Infertile Love
by MiserableLoveFairy
Summary: With an arranged marriages, things always turn out just fine. Not. At least for Rukia and Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo wants Orihime Inoue as a concubine, but he never realized the woman he had married was perfect for him all along.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: New story! This is like…Ah old times. Where like husbands get concubines and all of that stuff, it'll be good. **

**Apparently this is my second IchiRuki story, so yeah; don't kill me for it being bad! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

Rukia sighed as she readjusted her red kimono with silver leafing on it. Carrying tea with one hand and trying to tie her sash again with another was just plain horrible. But it was tea time with her husband of two years. An arranged marriage was common. Coming from the noble Kuchiki family, it was to be expected. Of course, she was set to marry and married the Kurosaki's son, Ichigo Kurosaki. It would all seem that it was alright.

Of course it wasn't.

There was always problems, the wife could have been married to an ugly, pockmarked man, or the man was just a pig, or the wife wasn't as skinny as the groom would have expected, there was just something. Even though it didn't, most of the time didn't have to deal with looks or personality wise.

Children seemed to be Rukia's problem. It had been two years since the marriage and Ichigo treated her respectfully as Rukia did the same. Yet on her wedding night with him, the first thing she told him as he tugged on the red sash that held together her ceremonial wedding kimono. Her violet eyes casting down upon his calloused hands as he pulled and tugged until it slipped through his waiting fingers and her flesh puckered with goose bumps due to the cold wind, these words escaped her lips,

"_I do not wish to have children right now." _

He seemed to have agreed as his hands smoothed their way to her milky shoulders and push the kimono so it fell and he took her to his/_their_ new bed.

Even though she didn't have any children and some people seemed to have problems with it. According to the elders, she needed to have children. Stupid senile old men and women, they didn't know what they were talking about. Though, even though it came out as a spat as they ran it out of their mouths, they couldn't help but admit.

She was the _perfect_ wife.

No one, no _one _testify against it nor disagree upon it. It was simply true. She opened the door to the study after gently knocking; she wasn't one for yelling or acting like a stubborn child. She was soft spoken and she was nice and calm. Always with a smile on her face, though she was taken as the ice queen, a nickname given to her by bachelors who had tried to take her hand in marriage but failed, she was going to remain single for a while until Byakuya had stepped in and gave her a push to a few other bachelors who she had never heard of and Byakuya went with her to make sure she didn't single out men because she didn't want to get married. She saw Ichigo working on a scroll, his hands making the brush drowning in ink sloppily move across her paper, his calligraphy was more messy and sloppy but readable than Rukia's. Rukia was taught by the best on how to work on her calligraphy and how to be a perfect wife. She hid her giggles with her sleeve as she saw his scowl deepen as his ink overflowed and dribbled onto the table. He wiped it up with his brush and went on writing. Rukia set the tea tray down on the table and took out the two cups hidden in her kimono sleeve and set them out and poured piping hot tea into them. He stopped his messy scrawl that he called writing and looked up when Rukia had already pulled up a chair and was sipping her tea quietly. She looked up and gestured to the cup that was right in front of him and he took it.

"How was your day today?" Rukia asked as she took a sip and Ichigo shook his head. He was sweating furiously, how could he break the situation without her getting angry? He knew his wife very well, they were kind of like best friends, and when he did something very stupid she would get brash, angry and she would glare at him until she forgave him which was usually in an hour.

"Oh nothing, I was just wondering about something." Ichigo said and Rukia raised a slim black brow.

"Your point is?" Rukia asked and Ichigo set his tea cup down and kneaded his fingers together and put them on top of his table.

"Rukia…I want to get a concubine." Ichigo said and Rukia stopped drinking her tea when she heard the word 'concubine.' She looked up and thought it was her imagination and she started chuckling, making the fan ornament in her hair shingles tinkle against each other.

"Did you just say you wanted a concubine?" Rukia laughed as Ichigo scowled deeper.

"Yes Rukia, I did say that." Ichigo said and Rukia kept on laughing, her laugh sounding like bells.

"Are you joking with me? My Ichigo, I don't remember you being a great joke teller." Rukia laughed and then looked up at Ichigo's serious face and then stopped laughing…he couldn't be…

"I'm not Rukia." Ichigo said and Rukia put down her tea cup on the mahogany cut table and narrowed her eyes.

"You are…serious?" Rukia asked and Ichigo nodded…she couldn't believe it…she was being _replaced_ by some other girl who would just use him as a money machine…

"I believe I haven't been more serious in my life." Ichigo swallowed and saw Rukia shuddering…he knew how she felt. He expected her to feel like she was being replaced. He couldn't help it.

"And who is this girl you want to replace me with?" Rukia asked smoothly and Ichigo opened his mouth.

"I'm not replacing you; I just merely want to have another woman on the side." Rukia gripped the sides of her chair.

"You want to replace me." Rukia said through gritted teeth and Ichigo's eyes softened.

"Fine, it's Orihime Inoue." Ichigo said her name in a breathless state as he fell back into his chair. Rukia's jaw nearly dropped at the name…Orihime Inoue…

"You want to replace me with some girl who is five years younger than me?!" Rukia yelled and Ichigo was stunned, her chest was heaving in a heavy pace and her voice cracked a little from being used to yell at someone.

"Rukia, you don't have to yell…" Ichigo tried to soothe her, but it wouldn't do. Rukia glared at him, her amethyst eyes glowering at him with hatred and anger.

"Why do you want a concubine Ichigo, why do you?! We've been perfectly married for two years, and I have been nothing, _nothing _but a perfect wife!" Rukia said through grinding teeth, her pearly white teeth grinding against each other as if in war.

"I know that Rukia but I…" Ichigo trailed off when Rukia's chair slammed back and she stood up and planted both of her small milky white hands onto his calligraphy, causing ink to seep onto her skin pores.

"But I what Ichigo, you need to tell me right now!" Rukia said in a loud voice and Ichigo sighed.

"Fine…I want heirs." Ichigo responded and Rukia felt her arms and legs go limp, of all reasons, children?!

"You want…children?!" Rukia yelled and Ichigo nodded slowly.

"I do Rukia, I'm not getting any younger and neither are you." Ichigo said and Rukia took her hands off of the calligraphy and saw it was a letter addressed to _Orihime Inoue_. Her kanji letters marking her name thick and bold with his neatest handwriting, the rest scribbled.

"Why didn't you just ask me, oh wait, you know I would say no, you need to wait for the right time to have children, we are only twenty years old!" Rukia told him, as her right hand shot up and her ink marked index finger stabbed in the air, pointing at his direction.

"We should have had children when you were nineteen." Ichigo stated and Rukia growled as she put her hand back down.

"Why, why would you need a concubine, I am more than perfectly capable of bringing sons and daughters into that family as much as that Inoue girl." Rukia said and Ichigo sighed…oh no.

"You seem…as if you are infertile." Ichigo blurted out and Rukia's mouth opened a little bit…infertile…_infertile_…_**infertile**__…__infertile_?!

"How dare you accuse me of being infertile?" Rukia yelled and Ichigo's back pressed against the chair even more like it was his life support.

"Well the doctors said that…" Ichigo said as he got an ink marked slap to the side of his cheek. A resounding slap was heard through the courtyard, black ink dripped onto his chin and his cheek stung. Rukia glared at him.

"The doctors said what Ichigo, enlighten me." Rukia said as she didn't bother staring in horror at her hand…he could have her killed yet he calmed down and faced her.

"The doctors said you were giving off symptoms of being infertile Rukia." Ichigo said calmly and softly and Rukia laughed bitterly.

"Oh Ichigo, I'm not infertile, I'll remind you that, it's not because I'm infertile, I just don't want children yet." Rukia said, reminding him of their wedding night.

"I know that, but when we grow old and we still don't have children, what if I was to die unexpectedly?" Ichigo asked as he took a handkerchief and wiped away the ink on his cheek.

"You are going to die soon if you plan on taking Inoue as your concubine." Rukia warned and Ichigo sighed.

"Rukia, you know I'm right." Ichigo pointed out and Rukia glared at him and turned on her heel.

"Fine then, you are right, I'm sorry for slapping you _husband_." Rukia said as she proceeded towards the door and Ichigo stood up.

"Wait, I still need your consent!" Ichigo said and Rukia stopped hot in her heels of her sandals and turned around.

"You want me to approve?" Rukia asked and Ichigo nodded slowly while taking in a large gulp of saliva in his dry throat and Rukia snarled at him. "I'll tell the chef in the morning to make a large banquet of the many bachelorettes for your liking, choose five, choose a hundred, choose a thousand, I don't care anymore." Rukia said as she flung open the door and then turned back to look at him, "Be prepared at lunch for tomorrow for your banquet and make sure you aren't late to dinner." Rukia said as she slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. She pressed the backside of her palm to her forehead and continued on.

**Author's note: Hehehe, well you see…I err…um….I…well, it's kind of good? Please review! Peace! **

**Peace! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: well okay, now I'm just pissed. I know some people are like die hard Ichigo and Orihime fans, or Hitsugaya and Rukia like I am. Or something else, IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN FLAME MY STORY. Just like this stupid idiot named IceKingHyorinmaru, that stupid idiot, he quote on quote, said this: **

"_**Die IchiRuki die I hate this pairing this story sucks balls!!" **_

**Well IceKingHyorinmaru, you are a very UNFORTUNATE soul. Well you know what?! You can go die, people have as much freedom as to write as to what they write. I don't give a flying piece of shit if you don't like it. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT DOUCHEBAG. Oh, and if you want to join in the anger with me, then here is his LOVELY profile: **

http :// .net /u /1973879/

**I just hate it when you flame people because of the pairing they write. It's not our fault we like it, it's just you are too stupid to comprehend and actually like it! My god, stupid idiots, now it just makes me flat out ANGRY. If you don't like this story then tell me why, don't just go hate my story because you hate the god damn pairing, it's not my fault I like it. You know what, you are always writing about that stupid whore with Hitsugaya, you can go shove it, my stories are ten times better than yours, that's right, I read yours way before you deleted it, and I got to say, I'm not impressed. So you can go shove it, IceKingHyorinmaru, and if any of you people who were just about to flame my story, BE WARNED, I WILL TALK ABOUT YOU *says with smile* don't think I won't. I'm evil when can be, I can get angry easily, so shove off!**

**By the way IceKingHyorinmaru, if you even tell me that you are offended, I DON'T CARE. YOU, MY GOOD MAN, I MEAN WOMAN, YES I'M CALLING YOU A GIRL, CAN GO ROT IN THE FIERY PITS OF HELL SO SUCK ON THAT!! **

**Sorry about that…Hehehe…let's continue on shall we? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

Rukia nearly rolled her eyes, her hands, safely hidden in her purple kimono's long sleeves that reached the floor as she sat down properly, she reached up and pretended to check on the white powder on her face but she was rubbing her temples in annoyance. The first ten girls were just flat out ridiculous.

Yes she had to admit, they were pretty, but they were deemed nothing more in Rukia's mind as a prostitute and a gold digger.

Rukia's friend, Momo Hinamori was right by her side and tugged discreetly on her sleeve.

"It's alright Rukia, just about a hundred more girls to go, unless we have more women." Momo said, calling for a break and the girls left to go eat and converse quietly to the other women that had arrived.

"I know, but the ones I've met so far are just complete idiots that have a pretty face but no brain to match with it. My god, I thought these women were supposed to be educated!" Rukia hissed through her dead white teeth as her red painted lips pressed on the rim of her cup to sip her tea, she saw her husband talking to someone else while she was here.

"I know Rukia, but it's not our fault, you know…your husband wanted concubines, it's not your fault you have to go through and ask them what there talents are." Momo said, trying to cheer her friend up but it wasn't working. Nothing was working. Rukia sighed as she closed her eyes and revealed light smoldering dark and inky blue and purple eye shadow and long curly thick black lashes.

"The problem is Momo; _none_ of them have talent except to see men in their vision as money machines." Rukia said as she shot open her eyes and looked at Momo which signified her to tell the girls that they were to start again. Momo cleared her throat and breathed in the cherry blossom perfume Rukia had rubbed on herself. The women stopped and looked at Momo and Rukia. Momo smiled a little and then opened her mouth,

"Why young ladies, it is time we start the meetings again." Momo said as Rukia nodded to the servant at Rukia's feet and he poured her another cup of tea. Rukia saw a young girl with orange hair, dark gray eyes, a large chest, and she was dressed extravagantly in red robes decorated with arrays of bright and happy colors. Her hair clipped on each side with a blue flower pin. Rukia nodded towards her and held out her hand to gesture the young girl to sit down.

"State your name please." Rukia said as the servant handed her a cup of tea and she took it with grace that she saw the girl gulp in front of her presence as Rukia sipped the tea.

"Orihime Inoue Kurosaki-Sama, it is an honor to meet the great Kurosaki lady of this household." Orihime bowed slightly and Rukia stopped drinking her tea and opened her eyes in an instant to see Orihime bowing her head down. Momo saw the interaction as Rukia's lips pursed into a deep scowl but raise itself back up into the regular lip motion it had been in before and set the cup into the servant's hand.

"And why have you come Orihime Inoue?" Rukia asked and Orihime undid her bow and placed her hands into her lap.

"I believe your husband called for me." Orihime said as she looked down and felt Rukia sigh as Orihime saw Rukia's pale, small, and soft white hand come out of her sleeve and tilt her chin up and saw Rukia arching a brow at her.

"You don't have to look down; now, do you have any special abilities?" Rukia asked and Orihime nodded nervously and opened her petite mouth.

"Shun Shun Rikka is my talent." Orihime said as Rukia nodded and held out a hand and smiled.

"Would you care to demonstrate?" Rukia asked sweetly and Orihime smiled nervously and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Kurosaki-Sama, there is no disrespect here, but there is not much about my abilities." Orihime said as Rukia scoffed quietly and then smiled.

"Dance, Sode No Shirayuki," Rukia said as the girls widened her eyes and Rukia closed her eyes and smirked, "Tsugi No Mai…Hakuren." Rukia said as the white blur came towards Orihime and Orihime widened her eyes.

"Santen Kesshun." Orihime shouted as the yellow triangular shield deflected the ice attack and the girls were quivering as Orihime put down her guard and saw Rukia smiling.

"Why did you attack me Kurosaki-Sama, have I done something to make you angry?" Orihime asked, scared that she did and Rukia opened her eyes.

"No, I was just seeing what your abilities were, I guess I was right, you can heal and shield, but certainly, you have a weakness…" Rukia was stopped as a calloused hand landed on top of her shoulder and Rukia looked up to see Ichigo arching a brow at her. All of the girls swooned at the presence of the man that wanted a concubine and Ichigo glared at her.

"Why wife, why are you talking this way, you are supposed to be gentle to our guests." Ichigo asked and Rukia looked up and put her hands in her lap.

"Why husband, I have no idea what you are talking about, I am merely trying to help her. I mean, this was the girl you requested wasn't it? Surely as the job as your wife, I must help point out her weaknesses so she will improve in them." Rukia said, her voice laced with venom towards her husband and Ichigo looked up and looked Orihime in the eye and Orihime felt something rise in her heart. Ichigo looked down.

"Do you approve of her Rukia?" Ichigo asked softly and Rukia put her hand gently on his hand and then wiped it away with the flick of her wrist. She closed her eyes as she got up in a quick movement, the sound of her kimono was the only sound and she slipped on her shoes and started walking away.

"She is deemed worthy of my approval, send someone to clean up this mess, I have other matters to attend to." Rukia said as Momo followed her and Ichigo narrowed his amber eyes at her.

"I thought you were going to look at the silks today I ordered you." Ichigo said and Rukia stopped and then looked at her.

"Why of course, I am going to go do that, I'll see you later husband." Rukia turned around and bowed at her waist and raised herself up before she tugged on Momo's elbow and they crossed out of the dining hall and disappeared from view. Orihime felt her heart swoon as Ichigo turned and smiled at her before he raised his elbow and smiled at her.

"Now, I have to show you your new quarters." Ichigo said as Orihime slipped her arm through his easily and then they walked off.

Meanwhile:

"The gall of that man, ooh, he is so annoying!" Rukia said as she walked into the room and Momo nodded.

"Well Rukia, he is your husband and he wants a concubine, you know what they say after a man gets a concubine…" Momo sang and Rukia saw the men bow and lead her to the table of silks just for her, when Ichigo used to spoil her.

"He'll just get more and more, I know Momo, so what should I do? Orihime seems…so innocent, but there is just something about her I can't put my finger on!" Rukia said as she felt the silk of the dark wine red fabric that slipped between her fingers, it felt silky soft, like it was her skin.

"Rukia, you need to calm down, seriously, I don't want to call the doctor again, and you know when you get angry it affects your blood pressure…" Momo continued on as she sat down and stood up when Rukia stopped at the red silk fabric and Momo walked over to Rukia.

"I know Momo…but…I love this fabric…" Rukia said and Momo put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know Rukia, you could have revenge!" Momo said and Rukia stopped feeling the silk and looked at Momo with an arched brow of interest quelling up in her face.

"Why Momo…what is this great idea of revenge?" Rukia asked as she put her hands together and hid them in her sleeves. Momo rolled her eyes and put her hands on Rukia's slim hidden wrists and pulled the stash of coins that Rukia had brought with her to buy the silk and opened Rukia's hand, a smirk forming as she dropped the bag onto her palm.

"You'll know what to do, now go buy all of those rolls of silk." Momo cooed as Rukia looked at the bag of coins and then smiled as she turned and the man gestured to all of them and Rukia nodded as she dropped the coins in his hand.

"Indeed Momo you are right." Rukia said as she saw them wrap it up and leave them on the table and bowed and left as they silently succeeded in another payment from the Kurosaki family and Momo smiled.

"I am always." Momo said as she held Rukia's hand in a friendly way and Rukia let go and both laughed as they walked out of the room and locked it.

Revenge was going to be absolutely, and perfectly, _sweet_.

Meanwhile:

"Eh, Kurosaki-Sama, why did you choose me as a concubine?" Orihime asked as Ichigo shrugged and looked at her.

"Well, the doctors and I believe that she cannot birth children, and I want children." Ichigo said and Orihime nodded.

"But she's your wife, and you said you believed, that doesn't mean it's true." Orihime pointed out and Ichigo looked at her.

"True, but she doesn't want children right now, I do." Ichigo said as they crossed into a longer hall and Orihime sighed.

"That doesn't mean that she won't want them someday…" Orihime said innocently and Ichigo stopped and turned his head to face Orihime.

"Don't worry about it, yes, I care about her, but…I'm a man, a man Orihime, you can understand right?" Ichigo asked as rough finger pads brought themselves up to Orihime's face and traced her jaw lightly. Orihime involuntarily shuddered before she nodded and Ichigo dropped his hand as she smiled and then they kept on walking.

"Is Kurosaki-Sama a perfect wife like she is proclaimed to be?" Orihime asked and Ichigo chuckled.

"Yeah, she is, she came from the Kuchiki family, so I would understand why." Ichigo said as they stopped in front of a door and he pulled a key out from his robes and slid it in the lock and opened the door. The room was lavishly furnished, plus plum carpeting. Deep gold and orange and red tints colored the walls and there were a few burgundy couches and chairs. On the left corner was a large four post bed draped with wine colored sheets and fluffy pillows were arranged so it formed a head sanctuary. Orihime didn't feel her jaw drop at the amazing room; she whirled out of Ichigo's arms and examined the room. Ichigo arched a slim orange brow as she practically danced everywhere in her new room.

"So do you like it?" Ichigo asked and Orihime nodded as the servants brought up her belongings and set it in her room as Orihime walked towards Ichigo.

"Will you call me for lunch?" Orihime asked and Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, I'll call a servant to call you up." Ichigo said as Orihime nodded and Ichigo gave her the key and closed the door behind him and walked off. He walked towards his room, slightly feeling happy that Rukia had let him get Orihime. He walked until he opened his door and saw the maids brushing Rukia's hair which was slightly curled from the designated hair style she had put it up in the morning. Rukia dipped the brush in the cold white powder and started to delicately spread it over her face and neck. Ichigo watched in careful consideration as she opened the pots of makeup and started to reapply all of her new make up. He walked in the room, his hands in his pockets as Rukia put down the brush and the maid cleaned the lip paint off of it. Her uncovered pink lips now looked shinier and in a darker shade of pink but you couldn't tell the difference.

"What do you want husband?" Rukia said as Ichigo leaned against the white colored vanity in their room and Ichigo ran a few fingers through his orange locks before he opened his mouth to speak.

"I know you are angry." Ichigo said calmly and Rukia didn't even spare him a glance as she got up and closed her eyes, revealing perfect make up.

"No, in fact, I'm not, whatever makes you happy make me happy." Rukia replied as the maid came up to her and bowed as she presented an elegant looking fan and Rukia took it and tucked it in her sash.

"Yes you are I just got a concubine, how come you aren't as angry as you were a week ago?" Ichigo asked as she started walking and he followed behind her.

"Because I am your wife, this is totally natural, it's not like I didn't expect it, and especially with that girl Orihime Inoue and I knew you were always fond of her and as the same for her as well." Rukia said as she walked out of the room, Ichigo hot on her trail.

"I don't want this marriage to fall apart though." Ichigo said as he stopped her and placed a hand on her shoulder and Rukia froze at his words and then turned around slowly. He thought he saw a smile on her face but realized it was one full of bitterness and amusement as her hand reached up and flicked his off.

"If anyone is going to make this marriage fall apart, it's you, I'll call the both of you for lunch later, or get a maid to do it, and I wouldn't want to interrupt your heir making time." Rukia said coldly as she turned on her heel and walked away and Ichigo sighed.

Sometimes, it kind of hurt him when Rukia said that to him.

He cared…

He really did.

**Author's note: Finally got this updated, I am sorry I didn't update last week. Well you see, I was feeling kind of lazy so yeah, and I have a big headache so that's not going to help me either. So I'm glad I wrote this all of this week and finished it up today. Hope you review. **

**I love you forever, we are young. **

**Peace! **

**MiserableLoveFairy **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Okay, sorry for the little…rant on the last chapter. My moods have been settled. Anyways, it's time for…**

**WINTER BREAK!! **

**Can anybody say relief? Oh my god, I am so happy that's it's winter break, teachers jamming finals and projects up our asses before we leave school, I am so glad! **

**I get to go back to school on January fourth; I get to see all my friends again! I know, but I'm enjoying break, it is going to be so good! **

**By the way, tell me what you are doing for Christmas, and if you do, maybe I'll surprise you with a few more chapters! **

**I love how everybody has been reviewing, thank you, it makes me feel special! **

**By the way, when I said 'geisha slut' in my last chapter, please overlook that, I know geishas are not sluts, so that's it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and if I did, I would make some awesome ass pairings. **

"_If anybody is going to destroy this marriage, it's going to be you." _

That hurt, it really did.

He knew that if he took in a concubine, she would be mad.

What wife wouldn't be?

To know that they were outdated and that their husbands didn't want them or have any specific need for them, but never like this.

He knew Rukia was being upfront and expressing her emotions, it's not everyday where the perfect wife gets replaced.

He was sitting at the lunch table, Rukia on his right and Orihime on his left, Rukia was chatting quietly with Momo and…_Hitsugaya Toshirou._

Ichigo cut his amber eyes at Hitsugaya who was smiling at everything Rukia had to say while Rukia was smiling back.

He had come in this afternoon and Rukia had wonderfully put it his arrival at this,

'_Ichigo, he'll be staying here in the mean time, besides, it's not like you are the only one who can play dirty.' _Rukia said with a gleaming smirk on her face as she watched her husband's jaw go slack at the sight of his hand and Rukia's hand placed on top of each other in a 'friendly' way and start laughing at something as they walked to the dining hall.

With close inspection, he saw that Rukia was eyeing Orihime out of the corner of her wise violet eyes and saw Orihime shoveling food down her throat. Rukia stopped talking to Hitsugaya for a moment with a bat of her eyelashes to clear her throat.

"Inoue, would you please stop…_eating_ for a moment?" Rukia asked and Orihime looked up and immediately patted her mouth with a napkin and splayed her fingertips on the edge of the table and Rukia smiled.

"Is there something wrong Rukia-Sama?" Orihime said and Rukia narrowed her eyes, when was Orihime allowed to call her by her first name? Before Rukia was about to protest to it Ichigo turned to Rukia.

"I gave her permission to call you that." Ichigo swiftly interfered and Rukia glared at him as her fake and pretty smile came back on her pink lips.

"Orihime, every good lady knows not to eat like a pig, you should be more elegant in eating, eat slowly, not like a fierce hungry animal, more gently and calmly, but at a slow constant pace." Rukia said calmly and Orihime nodded and her gray eyes hardened at Rukia's advice, but she took it nonetheless.

"Yes, but if I remember, you do not control me." Orihime said and everybody stopped what they were eating and looked at Rukia and Orihime, Orihime wore a scowl while Rukia was still smiling.

'_Don't lose your temper.' _

"Yes, but I am sure this is common knowledge, besides, I was just trying to teach you how to be a _proper_ young lady." Rukia said gently and Orihime scowled before she muttered a weak apology and went back to eating the way Rukia had suggested. Ichigo glared at Rukia and pulled on her kimono sleeve.

"What the hell was that for Rukia?" Ichigo hissed and Rukia shot him an innocent look.

"What are you talking about?" Rukia whispered and Ichigo glared at her.

"You just acted rudely towards Orihime." Ichigo lashed out and Rukia gave a slight angered exhale and narrowed her violet eyes at him.

"I wasn't acting rude; I was just merely giving…advice for your _concubine_. Even concubines need to know how to act properly." Rukia bit back, it was a good and sensible comeback and Ichigo shook his head before he started engaging into a conversation with Orihime.

"Eh Rukia, thank you so much for inviting me to your lovely home, it's been years since we've seen each other." Hitsugaya said and Rukia put a sleeve to cover her mouth as she giggled like a little school girl.

Of course they weren't attracted to each other, but they were pretending. While Hitsugaya agreed for fun and so noble girls would get off of his back for a while, Rukia did it for revenge.

"I know, it will be such a delight to have you…" Rukia stopped talking as she looked over at Orihime who being a little more than touchy feely with Ichigo and Ichigo was responding back. She cleared her throat loudly, "If both of you cannot hold your hands in, I suggest you take it to the bedroom." Rukia snapped as she slapped her chopsticks on the table to get their attention. They stopped their…fondling and looked at Rukia who was scowling and tsking at their overall appearance now. Disheveled kimonos and robes and such, Rukia pursed her lips at them.

"Rukia, is there a problem?" Ichigo asked as Orihime straightened out the top of kimono that was loose from Ichigo's hand tugging on it. Rukia shook her head at them and then waved a small hand at them.

"If you wanted to put her to good use as you requested, all you had to do was walk out of the dining hall, not assault her while we are in eating in public." Rukia hissed as she closed her eyes and revealed purple colored eye lids, different purple shades formed on her eyelids and it looked really nice on her. She flashed them open and violet eyes were burning at the presence at the two. Ichigo then nodded and got up and grabbed Orihime's hand and brought her up before they walked out of the hall. Rukia rolled her eyes at them in secret and Momo and Hitsugaya looked at her.

She looked close to strangling someone.

"So what are you going to do now?" Momo asked and Rukia pushed her bowl of rice and food in it and sighed.

"I have no idea." Rukia said as she rubbed her temples and Momo patted her hand in hopes of comforting her friend.

"Rukia, I have an idea." Momo said and Rukia's ears perked up and Momo's lips turned into a wicked smile. "When you go to sleep tonight…"

Night time:

People were settling off to sleep, Ichigo was sitting up on his bed and reading a scroll that was given to him for business, and he was waiting for Rukia to finish up before he could talk to her. He heard the soft padding of feet as he adjusted his eyes to the scroll that was a small letter from Renji who was telling him that he should be careful and that Rukia would not go down so easy. He scoffed, what did Renji know?

Renji wasn't Rukia's husband.

But of course, they had been best friends since they were children and Renji knew every dirty little thing that ran through Rukia's mind. He then heard the soft padding of feet grow larger and he knew that Rukia's presence had walked past in front of their bed. He looked up and then widened his eyes. Rukia…

Rukia was wearing a short sleeping yukata, it stopped at mid thigh and it was held nimbly and loosely by a loosely tied sash.

He swallowed the growing lump in his throat and he opened his mouth.

"R-Rukia, what are you wearing?" Ichigo asked, his throat turning dry and Rukia stopped at her side of the bed and cocked her head cutely to one side, revealing a slight opening and he could see the skin between her breasts and the forming roundness of them.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, what are you talking about?" Rukia asked as she stepped back a little and Ichigo swallowed dryly.

"What are you _wearing?_ Is that even _clothing_?" Ichigo asked and Rukia smirked at him, her petite lips into a tasteful smirk as she climbed into her bed. The yukata rose higher and showed more skin and then she sat down.

"I'm wearing a yukata silly, and yes it is clothing." Rukia responded curtly as she took out a book and started reading. He just stared at her as her hair that was lying around loosely on her shoulders covered milky skin that her yukata didn't cover up. Slender arms pulled themselves out of their sleeves to hold the book, the blankets draping over her legs didn't cover all of her bottom half of her body.

"So what about your guest, has he situated himself well here?" Ichigo asked and Rukia placed the ribbon on her page and closed the book crisply.

"Yes in fact, we are going out for a walk tomorrow." Rukia announced as she put her book away and Ichigo looked at her.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Ichigo asked and Rukia looked at him.

"Did you have fun?" Rukia asked and Ichigo arched a slim orange brow.

"What did I have fun with?" Ichigo asked and Rukia kept on looking at him.

"With your concubine after you left lunch, surely you must have had fun with her if both of you were playing around when lunch was in process." Rukia said and Ichigo's fantasy of playing around with Rukia stopped at her statement and he narrowed his amber eyes at her.

"Why do you address her simply as a concubine?" Ichigo asked angrily and Rukia arched a brow and scowled at him.

"Am I supposed to address her by her real name, like I need to give her any respect, she called me _Rukia-Sama_, that is not a form of respect towards the head lady of this household." Rukia snapped and Ichigo glared at her.

"You call her a concubine like she is just some whore without a name." Ichigo spat and Rukia glared at him.

"Would you like me to call her a courtesan instead? Because me calling her a prostitute is way better in what I call her as of right now, I can't believe you are defending her over your own wife." Rukia said with sarcasm dripping within her voice and Ichigo glared at her.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Ichigo asked angrily and Rukia glared at him and shook her head.

"How would you feel if I got another man to sleep on the side with?" Rukia yelled and Ichigo furrowed his brows.

"This is a completely different case!" Ichigo yelled and Rukia shook her head as she slipped out of their bed.

"No, no it isn't, it is just the same, just forget it." Rukia breathed out as she went to her closet and changed back into a regular sleeping yukata and saw him watching her as she stumbled back into their bed.

"I could sleep somewhere else if you want." Ichigo said softly and Rukia shook her head and climbed into bed and then lie on her side.

"It's fine, just go to sleep." Rukia said and Ichigo looked at her, he knew he wasn't making Rukia feel any better about the situation by fighting with her about it. He was just…he just didn't want Rukia to be stressed over this situation than she already was.

He then put down his book and shut off the lights.

He lied on his side of the bed. It felt weird.

He and Rukia, before the whole incident slept curled in each other's arms.

Now it had come to a situation where both had their sides and if anyone intruded, they would simply nudge them.

He lied on his back and looked up at the ceiling, white walls staring back at him until he saw his inner figure come out and look at him.

'_**What's wrong King, feeling a little upset?**_**' **Ichigo glared at him, he hated this one of the two inner figures he had in his body.

'_Go away.' _Ichigo shot back and Kamen* put his hands on his hips.

'_**That's rude King.' **_Kamen said and Ichigo glared at him.

'_Why are you here anyway, escaping from Zangetsu kissing the daylights out of Shirayuki?' _Ichigo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, but he knew that was probably true, that Zangetsu and Shirayuki were probably kissing the living lives out of each other.

'_**You miss her being all cuddled up against you don't you?' **_Kamen asked and Ichigo closed his amber eyes, tanned eyelids trying to block his vision.

'_Shut up, we are just…going through a turning point of our life.' _Ichigo said, he knew it was a pathetic excuse to give to Kamen but Kamen snorted, it _was_ a pathetic excuse and he knew it too.

'_**King, why don't you just tell her that you love her? That you want her back by your side? I think she wants to know you still care about her, not that…that…what's her name again?' **_Kamen asked with a confused brow and a confused mouth placement and Ichigo glared at him.

'_Her name is Orihime Inoue, you and Rukia are just the same?' _Ichigo shot back and Kamen smiled.

'_**King, just listen to me, your characters weren't matched up for anything, you didn't marry for anything, you didn't become best friends for nothing, both of you are the same and suitable for each other. I bet if that Orihime what's her face's characters were matched up with yours it wouldn't even match a decibel where Rukia's did with yours.' **_ Kamen responded and Ichigo's eyes were forced open and saw Kamen's face right in front of him and he smirked, his blue tongue hung out of his mouth.

'_**If you don't do that, I'll take over your body and talk to Rukia by myself, maybe I'll get her to actually talk and maybe I'll-"**__Kamen_ started and Ichigo glared at him.

'_If you even lay a hand on her bastard I 'll," _Ichigo said and got a smirk in his face.

'_**Watch me right now.' **_Kamen started crawling over Ichigo on the bed and went right to Rukia's form and started massaging her shoulders, making Rukia involuntarily shudder.

"Go away; you aren't going to be forgiven." Rukia muttered through her sleep and Kamen smirked and looked back at Ichigo who was more than enraged that Kamen started to come out now. When Kamen was about to tug on the shoulder of her kimono, Ichigo tried to speak but found out he couldn't. Ichigo watched in horror and then he realized Kamen stopped his actions and Ichigo looked as Kamen turned his head to him and then smiled,

'_**You should be able to talk after I leave, the next time, I'll be sure, I'll get her, so long King.' **_Kamen said as he disappeared and Ichigo panted heavily as he opened his eyes to see Rukia shaking him gently. Ichigo swallowed dryly in his throat and looked up and saw Rukia looking at him with concern.

"Ichigo, I felt him, are you alright?" Rukia asked as she took a small rag and wiped the sweat appearing on his forehead and set it away. Ichigo swallowed dryly.

"You woke up because my levels were becoming haywire didn't you?" Ichigo asked as he still looked up at Rukia's face and calming him down, in fact, Rukia, ever since she found out would always wake up and comfort him when he began to do that. Rukia knew Kamen sometimes liked to come out and play for a while.

"Yeah, it's kind of hard not to sense it, but I don't really mind, anything to get you to sleep." Rukia said quietly and Ichigo nodded as she bid him goodnight again and cuddled up next to him, to comfort him. He knew she wasn't doing it because of the old ways, just to comfort him. He sighed and then closed his eyes.

He hated his life now.

**Author's note: Kamen, when I was watching the English dub on Saturday, they used his name as Kamen, so I decided to name him that since I didn't want to just name him, 'Hollow.' So that's it. Don't be confused by it. **

**Please leave those reviews, and yes some minor HitsuRuki will be coming along, so yeah, but don't worry, it's only minor, they don't really fall in love. **

**Please leave those reviews for me eh? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Okay everybody, I'm back! Okay…let's see…**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!!**

**Hahaha, very nice, I bet you had a better one than me. I had to get stuck with all of these crappy relatives and I got only one present, but I appreciate it, and it's not even from my own parents. How sad is that? **

**But I won't go into the details. **

**Congratulations to Woof Head who passed Hotel626 without chickening, I hear there IS AN ASYLUM one. You know, full of insane people. If you are interested, by the way, it supposed to sponsor Doritos, love those damn chips. Anyways, you can play right now, the hotel is only open, or the game in this case during 6 p.m. through 6 a.m. or the darkest hours to scare the flying shit out of you. Anyways, you can play at Hotel626 dot com. If you have a web cam and microphone they say to use that, but they just take a picture of you at the end but you don't have to if you don't want to. **

**Make sure you play with a friend right next to you and you can hold their hand! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

It was lunch time and it was time for friendly gossip, talking, dining off of fine foods and other things.

Rukia sighed as she watched girls entertain them playing the koto.

She could tell they were learning, but Rukia was one of the best players in all of Japan, she gotten quite famous and her nickname was 'Sleeve of White snow' though, she know, that they based her off of that because of her sword's name.

Her sword was Sode No Shirayuki.

Though, before she got married to Ichigo, and after it was announced they were going to get married, people gossiped through the halls quietly about how a dark blade could ever touch a pure white blade.

Of course, she would understand why they would say that because Ichigo's blade was…

Zangetsu, but fortunately, he became lucky and he achieved _bankai_, even though he wasn't a real soldier, nobles that earned bankai were considered powerful and very wealthy, his bankai was…

Tensa Zangetsu.

Even though he might have seemed scary, he wasn't really scary in real life. But of course, there was still dark whispers about…Kamen.

She remembered the first time he had shown her Kamen.

Fully pressurized back, in Ichigo's control, he was scared to tell Rukia because Rukia was the first one he told.

She remembered as he put on the mask on his face, the chilling white boned mask with red markings, his eyes turning to the ashen color of gold and black sclera in his eyes.

He was scared she would be terrified; instead she smiled and told him she wasn't scared and she saw one of his true smiles.

She was awakened from her trance and memories of the past when Momo tugged on her sleeve.

"Rukia, Rukia, _Rukia, are you there?!" _Momo hissed and Rukia blinked her violet eyes before she looked at Momo and separated Momo's hand from her kimono sleeve.

"Yeah, I was just remembering something." Rukia said as she heard claps and she looked up to see the two young girls looking at her, waiting for advice or compliments and Rukia smiled at them.

"So Kurosaki-Sama, what do you think of the two girls? They are one of my best so far." The teacher said as she smiled, dark old wrinkled lips smiled to show white teeth. Heavy jade earrings hanging down from the earlobes, dragging her wrinkled and dotted earlobes, heavy make up and Rukia looked at them.

Two girls, both of them had rich amber colored hair, loyal piercing honey colored eyes and smiles, waiting for the compliments that they were expecting to pour out of Rukia's mouth.

Rukia smiled at the two and looked at the teacher.

"You never seem to fail with your students, some minor errors in plucking, but that can be fixed with more practice, you both did wonderful though." Rukia said and both of them giggled as they bowed towards her.

"Thank you Ms. Kurosaki-Sama." Both replied at the same time and Rukia smiled and the two girls raised themselves up, placed both hands, folded neatly in their lap and batted their eyelashes. "Would you Kurosaki-Sama play for us? We haven't heard you play in years!" One of them piped up and everybody looked at Rukia who was arching an amused brow at them.

"I possibly couldn't, I'm much too busy and I've probably forgotten by now." Rukia said, trying not to play the koto, it was a lie; she remembered how to play perfectly.

"Oh please Kurosaki-Sama, we would be honored!" The other girl pleaded and Rukia felt Ichigo smiling at her.

"Yeah you should go play Rukia; I haven't heard you play in a while." Ichigo said and Rukia looked at the begging crowd and then she got up. She walked over and the girls bowed as she got up on the stage and they sat down behind her. Rukia sat down and breathed in and started plucking strings to start the music.

As she plucked to create the wonderful tune she saw everybody simmer and relax and she remembered Ichigo always enjoyed when she played the koto.

After twenty minutes of playing a wondrous tune she stopped and took a deep breath as she heard clapping and sounds of enjoyment and she got up and walked back down to her seat. She sat down with a small flutter of her robes and took a small sip of her tea.

"You were wonderful Rukia-Sama! Probably the best I've ever heard!" Orihime gushed and Rukia stopped drinking her tea and she looked at Orihime and smiled.

"Oh it's nothing at all, absolutely nothing, don't you know how to play?" Rukia asked and Orihime smiled nervously and shook her head.

"Well, I do, but not as well as you. Though, I thought I heard minor errors in your plucking earlier." Orihime commented and everybody stopped and Rukia put down her tea cup sternly and looked at her.

"You thought you heard…_errors_?" Rukia asked and Orihime smiled sweetly.

"Well…I know I did, but it's just minor, nothing that can't be fixed." Orihime smiled and Rukia had to stop herself from glaring at her.

"Well, no offense Orihime, but for someone that says they can't play as well as I can, you are the one criticizing me?" Rukia asked and Ichigo panicked…this was not going to turn out well.

Orihime's smile disappeared and she frowned.

"Well all I'm saying is that you probably don't live up to the name of being the best if you still make errors." Orihime said and Rukia gripped the table, her nails digging into the marble and she gritted her teeth together.

"Excuse me? For your information Orihime, all of the Kuchiki women have strived to become the best of the best when it comes to playing the koto. Has the Inoue family prided themselves on bashing the Kuchiki family?" Rukia almost yelled out, she had to keep herself calm, the last time she lost her temper, and she had slapped her husband out of pure rage.

"Well, we do have our secrets and gossip about all of the families." Orihime said with a smirk and Rukia was ready to smack Orihime across the face but instead she slammed down her tea cup and then got up gracefully and glared at her.

"Fine then, you know what, Ichigo, why don't you take her to our bed tonight and she can sleep there? I'll sleep in the women's hall tonight." Rukia said as she started walking away and then she stopped and turned to Orihime. "By the way Orihime, touch any of my stuff; I'll make sure you'll regret it." Rukia said as she walked out of the hall and maids went chasing after her as Rukia left the room.

Rukia crossed the halls and told the maids to stop following her as she entered in her room and slammed the door. She quickly went to her bedside and took out an ink well, brush, and parchment and started quickly writing a letter. When she finished the letter she placed a jade bangle in a silken scarf, wrapped it and placed it on the bed with the letter right next to it.

She stood up straight, placing a hand on her perfect glossed hair now messy due to her anger as she frantically wrote the words of the letter. Rukia smiled and then left the room, she had to go back.

Nighttime:

"You are kidding me." Ichigo said as Orihime sat on his bed and Ichigo read the letter _again_ for the millionth time. Rukia had decided to play mean by asking the little snow lion if she could sleep in his room which he gladly obliged with a smirk on his face, if Ichigo didn't have self control, he would have punched the snow monster.

'_Dear Orihime, _

_It seems like our relationship has gotten on a rocky path, and I am sorry, as head of the household I should treat you with more respect as seeing that you are now my husband's concubine. If any case to make you feel comfortable please feel free to sleep in our bed right next to my husband, I am sure he'll appreciate it. As a token of my trust, I have entrusted you with one of the many famous jade bangles passed down from the Kuchiki clan women from time to time, it is has gone through a lot, I wish my best intentions. _

_Good luck. _

_Sincerely, _

_Rukia' _

"Well that's awfully nice of her; I do like this jade bangle." Orihime said as she slipped it on, it fit on her wrist perfectly and she held it up in the light to see it glimmer. Ichigo looked at the letter again, narrowing his amber eyes to see if there was any hidden meaning in it.

But alas, he couldn't find any, Rukia was really giving up.

Meanwhile:

Sweat ran down their bodies, arms locked in place. Their beats were irregular and still beating madly.

Grasping the blankets they kept on going.

They stopped their shaking and she looked up at him and smirked.

He watched her movements; he swallowed the saliva growing in his throat from anticipation.

"I win." Rukia announced as she slammed down the Mah Jong* tile on the little tea table and smiled as he groaned.

"Damn it!" Hitsugaya hissed as Rukia started laughing.

"And you said you were the best in your household! What a lame excuse!" Rukia laughed as he glared at her.

"That's not funny, I was letting you win." Hitsugaya said, even though, he just got his ass handed to him because he in fact, had loss to a girl and he was ashamed, so he pretended that he let her win.

"Yeah right, you are just covering up!" Rukia laughed again as she took another sip of her tea.

Rukia felt comfortable with him, he was her best friend, and she didn't have to wear any of that heavy makeup, jewelry, or act proper just to have a good time with him.

"Whatever." Hitsugaya said as he waved it off and took another sip of his tea and then he put it down as Rukia popped a sweet in her mouth.

"Do you love him?" Hitsugaya asked and Rukia looked up at him in surprise and shrugged.

"Well…I don't know, we've been married for two years, I don't know." Rukia said as she finished the sweet in her mouth and took a sip of tea and Hitsugaya arched a brow.

"Do you think he would love you even if you weren't the perfect wife?" Hitsugaya asked and Rukia stopped sipping her tea and set it down.

"Well…once you think about it…we've been best friends for a while, he said he liked me just for who I was, but anyways, I still tried in hoping to make my brother and sister proud of me. I guess, but when we found out we were going to get married, we didn't really care, and it was just like two best friends just united for life. Friends don't like you for what you are not, but who you really are. Maybe he just loved me as a friend and this is why he thinks he can do this." Rukia said as she shrugged and Hitsugaya sighed.

"I think he loves you more than that don't you think that's accumulated over the years you've spent together as a married couple?" Hitsugaya asked and Rukia smiled weakly.

"I wouldn't know, Ichigo…well, he won't tell me, but he tries very hard to hide his feelings, he never can admit them, even if you force him too, he'll never tell. That's just him I guess considering the fact he has a monster wreaking havoc in him sometimes." Rukia said as she laid a hand silently on Sode No Shirayuki's crystal.

"We can't do anything about it, come on, and let's get to sleep." Hitsugaya said as he handed blankets over to Rukia and she thanked him as she climbed into another bed they had situated for her and he closed the lights and they went to sleep.

After twenty minutes, she could feel Hitsugaya lull into sleep and Rukia turned so she was on her back on the right side of the bed and she sighed. While Ichigo, who was pressed up against Orihime's bare body with his own bare body, he sighed, he was on the left side of the bed.

They were just wondering how each other were.

**Author's note: Don't kill me, ack! I'm going to die! Thank you for…forty six reviews already? Love you guys! **

**Please review please. **

**Peace you suckers, I have to light a candy cane on fire right now. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Okay I'm coughing really badly…so I got sick while I wasn't updating and today when it was raining like crazy, I had to wait outside in the rain after school for my ride and when I got home, I was freaking soaked and I had to change out of everything. I blame the person picking me up because I HAD TO WAIT FOR LIKE THIRTY MINUTES AND IT WAS FREAKING POURING AND I FORGOT AN UMBRELLA AND I DIDN'T WANT TO WEAR THE STUPID PONCHO MY MOM GOT ME. **

**Seriously, it's really ugly…I'm never wearing a poncho unless my family's life depended on it or the world depended on it or else the world would be destroyed. **

**Also, when I was out delivering notes in sixth period, I saw some kid from P.E. who was sent outside DUNK his head under the rain pipe and cover his head with water and I'm like…DUDE THAT'S NASTY! **

**I mean, I knew it was just rain water…but dude! Seriously?! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

**Oh yeah…I don't remember which reviewer, sorry for that! For people that say that during my story when I write parts where Ichigo is lying next to Orihime after…yeah…and that makes them want Orihime…I'M TERRIBLY SORRY! I didn't want that to happen! I don't want you men…or boys…or guys getting turned on by a main…BAD PERSON. I forgot the fancy word for…I think it was antagonist? Yep, I just searched it up on fan fiction dictionary, yep, the antagonist of the story…that's nasty! **

**ANYWAYS…JUST HAVE TO ADD THIS IN BEFORE WRITING. **

**Did you guys hear about the new filler? Yeah…apparent the next chapter is going to be the end of the filler of the Zanpakuto arc, which was a good arc, I'm not going to lie…though…two episodes from now, we will start a new filler which will be longer and taking the place of the Winter War. Yeah…also, a lot of questions have started if Bleach will end after the winter war and Aizen, it will not. There are going to be more arcs when you can get inspiration from after the winter war. Anyways, the new filler after the Zanpakuto arc is really weird, there also will be Zanpakuto included in this **_**again**_**. The main enemies of the shinigami are hollows, so the hollow thing never quits I'm guessing and the enemy of the zanpakuto are zanpakutos called **_**Beast Zanpakuto, **_**zanpakuto that have gone wild and killed their shinigami masters…so that's it. The winter war episodes in the show, not the manga, will start again on April thirteenth. Yeah, pretty much sucks doesn't it? Shit. Anyways, the next episode is called 'Final chapters-Zanpakuto Unknown Tales arc.' **

**The next arc will be called 'The Beast Swords.' **

**I get all of my information from Bleach wikia so that's pretty much it. I don't go on Bleach 7…only to download stuff…yeah…**

**Let's go to Disclaimer again for real…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I don't really care either…I got cake!**

An intense silence filled the air as Rukia gripped her kimono sleeve between her fingers, her fingers turning white.

"You shouldn't be going out like this Rukia!" Ichigo reprimanded slightly, wanting to draw his wife back from going out to _Rukongai_ for a little trip. She gripped the table and shot a withering glare at him.

"I can go if I want; you used to let me go all the time! So why won't you let me go out now?" Rukia said making sure she would win this fight and not Ichigo, because she was always the gentle wife, she would say yes and retrieve something to do, but she really wanted to visit Rukongai.

"I just…I just…I just don't want you going, _period_." Ichigo said harshly, with a sliver of hope that she would stay home; he couldn't help it if Rukongai was filled with bandits or people that could recognize her and kill her.

"Well, I'm going whether you like it or not, I should be expected back before dinner, have a good afternoon husband." Rukia said as she bowed and the silver comb that had been placed and wounded around in her hair fell out and her ebony locks spilled over her shoulders and Ichigo watched as she ran a few fingers through her hair before she picked up the comb. He did like her hair. Everything about it, the color, the sweet scent of cherry blossoms and fresh snow, how soft it was and how easy it was to find comfort in running your fingers through it, he loved the silky feel of it, he would know, he used to run his fingers through her hair when they were younger.

Rukia's steps treaded lightly as she walked to their bedroom and she opened a drawer and placed it on her vanity. Before she opened the box, she took a small basket of water resting on the ground and picked it up and wrung the towel in it before she gently wiped off the white substance, blush, eye shadow, liner, and lip paint. She looked up and smiled slightly when she saw her own violet orbs, not the one that was hidden behind the entire make up. It wouldn't have mattered if she put on the white face powder anyways; her skin was the exact same color.

She folded up her sleeves and slid off her many rings and bracelets, the sign of a wealthy noble and slipped it in a container with an assortment of rings and bracelets. She did the same process on her other hand and closed the container. Taking off her gold earrings and taking any other jewelry off, she walked away from the vanity and ran a few fingers through her hair and roughened it up. She smiled slightly as she saw she wasn't the noble she was every day.

Walking to her closet, she untied her sash as she walked in and opened the light and looked around until her eyes lit up at the item she had wanted. Taking the simple purple kimono that had reached to the middle of her legs, she slipped off her royal kimono and midnight blue haori, it crumpled to the floor and she slipped on the kimono and smiled. It still fit after all of the years she had kept it, she wore this kimono before Byakuya adopted her, the orphanage lady had made it for her and she loved the orphanage lady with all of her heart. She was the mother that Rukia never had.

Tying the sash in the back and slipping on her flat shoes, she took a pouch of coins and stuck it in her sash for safe keeping. She looked at her room before taking a simple pink haori and draping it over her purple kimono and grabbed Shirayuki's crystal and hung it from her sash and left.

Twenty minutes later:

"You're kidding me right?!" Ichigo yelled as he slammed down his palm and the messenger quivered in his presence. He had to be the one to tell Ichigo that Rukia had left for her yearly visit to Rukongai. He knew his master would not be simply happy with the news.

"I reassure you I am not Kurosaki-Sama, we have three maids that saw her leave the household, but they did Shirayuki on her sir." The messenger said as he kept his face down and his bowed form in place and Ichigo took the palm that had been slammed down on the desk and rubbed his forehead. Orihime was in the room and was quietly sipping her tea.

"She's crazy…fine then, it's alright, just tell me when she gets back, the moment she gets back, is that understood?" Ichigo ordered and the messenger nodded as he stood up, bowed, and then left and closed the door to Ichigo's study. Ichigo rubbed his tanned forehead with calloused fingers.

Rukia loved to not listen to him. As much as the perfect wife she was, in private, she loved to play games on him and not listen to him like she should have and ended up laughing at him as he yelled at her for making him concerned.

Orihime saw his distress and smiled…

'_If only you were smarter Kurosaki-kun.' _

She set down his tea cup and stood up quietly. Her robes quietly moving with her, the dark orange silk fabric making a small quiet sound as she slipped out of her seat and he clumsily pulled the stack of parchment and brought out an ink well and took out a brush and worked. She came up behind him and snickered to herself when he hadn't noticed that she was right behind him. Her hands leisurely came up his backside and smoothed over the planes of his back. They gradually made their way up his shoulders and she started rubbing them.

Ichigo stopped writing in surprise at the action and tensed under her touch. This felt uncomfortable, even it was supposed to comfort him, and he didn't feel it.

"W-what are you doing Orihime?" Ichigo stuttered and Orihime bent down so her face was in level with his and he watched with widened eyes as her small smile turned wider.

"You seemed distressed Kurosaki-Sama, I'm just trying to help the best I can, and I'll do _anything_ to help you." Orihime cooed and Ichigo pulled away from her hands and she blinked before he grasped her neck and pulled her down for a kiss.

She smirked as they kissed.

Meanwhile:

Rukia walked simply in the expanding town of Rukongai, currently in the state where everything was peaceful and rising so they weren't any poor people anymore. It was just middle class people and Rukia smiled as she saw the happiness of the towns she walked in.

She saw her favorite candy shop when she was a small little kid and entered in the shop. The small bell rung as she went in, she smiled as she smelled the sweet pastries and delectable candies that filled the shop and she looked at the shopkeeper who was wiping her hands with a towel and she noticed Rukia had come in and smiled.

"Is there anything I can help you with Miss?" The shopkeeper asked and Rukia smiled pleasantly.

"Do you still have the house specials around here? I haven't had some in years." Rukia admitted and the shopkeeper smiled.

"Yes we do, we still have some, and how much would you like?" The shopkeeper asked as she brought out the tray and Rukia smiled.

"Enough to fill a five pound bag, and a small one pound bag, that's it." Rukia responded and the shopkeeper smiled as she began to fill the bags.

"Do you work at an orphanage?" The shopkeeper asked nonchalantly and Rukia shook her head.

"No, but I am going to visit one that I used to live in." Rukia replied and the shopkeeper tied the bags and placed them in front of her. Rukia fished out the coins in her pouch and placed the proper amount on the table and the shopkeeper smiled before bidding her goodbye. Rukia took the bags and walked out of the shop and she smiled as she took a breath. She started walking towards her destination, no one disturbed her, but she did see people point her out on how pretty she was and how much she represented the snow queen.

Ah…yes…she would, because she was named the Snow Queen.

She walked quietly until she saw a gang of men chuckling quietly, smoking the tobacco as they looked at her and chuckled. She ignored them and kept on walking and she walked pass them when…

"Hey there pretty lady, you're looking rather fine today." A man called out and Rukia rolled her eyes secretly and kept on walking and the men looked at her.

"Hey, are you just going to ignore us like that?" Another man called out and Rukia felt someone wrap their hand around her sash and pull her back to them until she faced one of them. He smelt dirty and when he smiled, she saw all of the yellow teeth from not brushing properly, and he reeked of alcohol.

"Are you trying to ignore us pretty lady?" The man asked and Rukia scoffed and gripped his wrist and wrung his hand off.

"I'm not trying to; I just need to be somewhere." Rukia responded curtly, really hoping that Shirayuki would calm down about her just being manhandled. The man offered a smirk.

"How about you ditch where you're going and come with us?" The man asked as he scooted closer to her and Rukia pressed a hand behind her back to hide Shirayuki's crystal from their view.

"I'd rather not; I have to go, if you don't mind." Rukia said as she tried to leave and she winced when Shirayuki's crystal started vibrating. The man sidestepped her and blocked her from leaving, all of his gang members did the same, and they surrounded her and Rukia sighed.

"Well I do mind, so why don't you stay for a little while?" The gang leader said as he inched closer to Rukia causing her to step away.

"And if I don't want to stay?" Rukia said forcefully and the gang leader frowned and then smiled wickedly as he tried to put an arm around her.

"Then I'll guess I'll have to force you then." The leader said as he tried to wrap an arm around her and Rukia rolled her eyes, and then disappeared and reappeared right out the circle and the gang leaders turned around to see her standing there. She can't believe she just blew some of her identity by using flash step.

"H-how did you do that?!" A member yelled and Rukia rolled her eyes and let Shirayuki's crystal hang off of her wrist.

"I really need to be going, I didn't want to blow my cover like this but…you forced me too…Tsugi No Mai, Hakuren." Rukia said as the place filled up with ice and the gang member's legs were compacted into ice and the villagers looked as Rukia blinked and looked up and then they realized who she was.

Her eyes had changed into a pure ice blue and the villagers awed at the Snow Queen.

"It's the Snow Queen!" The villagers whispered as she withdrew Shirayuki's crystal and then turned on her heel and walked away.

Hour later:

Rukia entered in her home grounds again and she tugged wearily at her hair, she was tired, and she wanted to go to sleep before dinner. As soon as she entered in the manor servants swarmed around her and asked her if she needed anything but she simply nodded no and went off. She walked off to her room and she opened her door and saw Ichigo sitting with Orihime in his lap and Rukia rubbed her eyes.

She walked in and Ichigo and Orihime looked up.

"Good evening Rukia." Ichigo greeted and Rukia looked at the two and cut her eyes away from the two.

"Good evening, I'm sorry if I made you terribly concerned, I shouldn't have gone, but I couldn't help it when you denied the request." Rukia said as she went into her closet and changed into a sleeping yukata and Ichigo and Orihime eyed her as she climbed into bed.

"You're going to bed early Rukia-Sama?" Orihime asked and Rukia ran a hand through her hair and nodded as she set herself to sleep.

"Please do not disturb me; I'll see you two at dinner." Rukia greeted, signaling for them to go away and she heard slight whispering and shifting and then she heard soft padding of feet and the door closing. She knew that Ichigo had not left like she had requested. She felt his weight sink his side of the bed and Ichigo sat next to her.

"How was your day?" Ichigo asked and Rukia shifted so she was lying on her back.

"Rather well, how was yours?" Rukia asked as Ichigo chuckled as Rukia tried to close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

"Mine was okay I guess, you do realize you had me insanely worried about you." Ichigo reminded and Rukia chuckled a little.

"Yeah I guess so, but I don't care, you have a lovely young girl to keep you company." Rukia reminded him and Ichigo narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"Are you angry at me for doing this?" Ichigo asked and Rukia sighed and turned away.

"You can think whatever you want to think…the truth is…I'm not mad at you, I'm just sad that you would do this to me, I thought we weren't going to be like this. I miss the Ichigo I used to know…that's how I feel." And Ichigo parted his lips for a sigh to exhale out of his lips.

He did know how she felt, he wish he hadn't lost the old him.

**Author's Note: Okay, that's all I got for now…seriously, I'm freaking tired, it's eleven thirty one at night. I still have a real people Mulan movie to go through, but I'm just too tired. **

**Anyways, leave those reviews for me! **

**Peace! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Okay here…I'm going to respond to some of the reviewer's…responses: **

**Okay anonymous reviewer: Papaya: I just simply don't have the time to make chapters longer, it was already like one a.m. before I went to bed, I have school, and on weekends it's even worse because all I want to do is sleep. I know it's sad, I want to give longer chapters, I really do, but it's not my fault if all I do is work and then on weekends crash out. Sure, I plenty of free time, but I also have to cook dinner for my family and stuff…so that's it…sorry…**

**Ashezo: I totally agree with you for like the whole Ichigo jealousy thing, but that's why I put Hitsugaya! I didn't put Ashido and Hisagi because…well…because…I kind of forgot about them. Plus, Hitsugaya and Rukia are my favorite couple, this is like my only second IchiRuki story…so yeah…Oh yeah…my chapter was short? **

**Hekka: You disabled your private messaging system so I couldn't reply…well…I don't know! I was tired! I couldn't think! But it's still her bedroom if you know what I mean, I think she has a right to still sleep in it…I guess…I don't know…**

**Alero1990: Haha, I feel the same way about Orihime, I wouldn't worry too much about it, by the way, I love your new story. It's really nice. **

**Cerawitch: I was reading your review while coughing like crazy…anyways, I have a lot of people asking to pair up Rukia with Ashido and Renji…but I already put Hitsugaya because I love that couple…and plus…I kind of forgot about them. If you're wondering about Renji…Haha…did I forget to tell you guys. He's…um…he's umm…married…to um…Haha…Matsumoto…Haha…really funny right? I don't think I mention him a lot in this story though…like one chapter? I don't know, I'll bring him, and big brother Byakuya and Hisana, yeah, Hisana's still alive. OH NO! Don't think that way; you haven't hurt me at all! It's alright, I totally get it, you said it more gently than you thought, so don't worry about it. And that reviewer, who sent me that, was my brother. **

**Black sun upon an Icy Sky: She is a bimbo, but I can't get rid of her yet! Not yet! This whole story has to deal with her too! Don't worry! She has to do with a lot of components in the story! I can't get rid of her yet! She's not going away for a long time. **

**XLightningX: I don't plan too for a long time! Haha, maybe after I go into high school which is next year, I don't know, it depends on the stories I need to finish. **

**Dragonsmaiden66: Yeah, that's pretty much it. Haha, I am sick, still, it's okay, the worst part already passed for me. Yeah, there will be more filler episodes coming, but don't worry, it's only going to be like a month before they come back! We have to get through February full of filler episodes, but it sounds promising! Seriously, it does! **

**Psychegloom: For heaven's sake people! I told you! She asked Hitsugaya to make him jealous! Haha, they won't have any children together, I promise, if I made myself do that, I would probably throw up, and NO I will not give Rukia Stockholm syndrome, if I did that, then it wouldn't be an IchiRuki story! Seriously! He's not infertile; I clearly remember that he didn't get a vasectomy. **

**GhibliGirl91: Haha, sorry for that mistake! I was really tired because it was like eleven and when I go back to school, I usually get sleepy around nine p.m. So sorry for that…tee hee…I update every week, or I try…I guess…Yes the poncho was ugly! IT was simply horrible and I thought it wasn't going to rain, and I'm already sick so…it didn't matter…so I didn't bring it and the next thing you know…it's raining! **

**Star133: Since you are the eleventh reviewer for the last chapter, you are the eleventh response I've had to give, and I totally need more juice…anyways, I'm supposed to make him frustrating, but don't worry, everything will melt down…but not any time soon. Tee hee…Rukia, she's not angry, she was at first, but now she's sad because she thought that her best friend would never do this to her. Like it says in this story, they have quite a history. And she's also saddened because she never knew Ichigo could be this way with her, she implies that he's changed after they got married or after his parents and her brother and sister announced that they were engaged. They thought originally that they weren't going to get married to each other, but to other people. But I won't tell you who they thought they were going to get married to…tee hee…but don't worry, things will get better! **

**KurukiXV: Haha, well I think we all wish she would disappear don't you think so? Anyways…yeah…it is very intriguing, I don't know why I made him that way though, but at least he recognizes that he truly did change before they got married and now they have to deal with this. **

**Soinlovewithbleach: Like your penname by the way! Anyways, LIKE I'VE BEEN EXPLAING FOR THE LAST PAST TWELVE THINGS, Rukia already brought in Hitsugaya to make him jealous! Gosh, do you people not listen? I'm just kidding though. I'm not yelling at you, just emphasizing my point, I tend to put it in caps if I'm emphasizing something. Anyways, I hate them too, but they absolutely have to be a part of this story for it to be the IchiRuki story goodness that it is! Excuse me, I have to cough out my organs right now…anyways! Don't worry about it! I detest Orihime too; a lot of people who read this or watch Bleach do tend to detest her too. **

**Anyways, I know I made a lot of mistakes…so yeah, just bear with them, just kindly tell me so I'll smack myself for my mistakes on spelling and grammar. So just…yeah! **

**Oh yeah…maybe little IchiRuki fluff in this chapter? I don't know, I'm not sure and I got to stop talking! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

She walked; dark whispers filled the halls in the house as she passed by. Of course, they were loud and rambunctious at first, but as soon as she entered and started walking in the halls, they simmered down to a quieter level so that she might not hear, but she did.

"_I feel sorry for her." _

"_Why?" _

"_You know, it's that time of the month, the full moon…" _

"_I wonder what she's going to do this time, last time she had to be sent to the hospital…" _

"Please do not speak ill if you do not know about the situation." Rukia hissed out politely and the maids nodded as they dismissed themselves and went off, Rukia sighed. It was true, the full moon was coming tonight and that would mean that she would have to seal Orihime in her room. Orihime was just not brave hearted enough to handle this day. Only Rukia could handle this.

Rukia briskly walked to Ichigo's office and knocked on the door before entering and Ichigo looked up, he wasn't do any work, he was just looking outside the window and Rukia looked down.

"It's that time of the month again." Rukia said as she folded her hands in her light blue sleeves and Ichigo opened his mouth.

"I know Rukia; we should let Inoue out for the day or lock her in the room." Ichigo said as he dug his nails into his skin, he didn't know why _he_ was trying to come out so early.

"You do realize what this means right?" Rukia asked as she looked at her jade bangle and Ichigo turned around and looked at her with piercing amber eyes.

"I know, I just…I don't know why you put up with it, I hurt you last time and I…" He was cut off when Rukia glared at him.

"I am more than capable of handling myself, it was minor bruising, nothing the ointments couldn't fix, and I'm more than sure I'll be able to cure his urges before next month's full moon. Do you not believe in me?" Rukia asked and Ichigo looked at her as he stood up.

"Of course I do…but I think we should let Inoue see." Ichigo suggested and Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"Are you insane? She will cry, she may be strong, but she will be terrified of you, besides, Kamen would probably not like her, since he's known me for curing him, he'll probably not let Inoue near him!" Rukia said in a strict tone and Ichigo looked at her.

"She needs to try, what if you're gone and she's the only one in the household and the time comes?" Ichigo asked and Rukia looked at him with a stern glare.

"I assure you, I will not leave the house around those times, and I am not someone to leave home all of the time." Rukia said as she sat down and Ichigo arched a brow.

"Well then, what do you want to do with her?" Ichigo asked and Rukia almost let a smile curl onto her lips, but she kept her face still.

"I just say we let her not know and just let her find out herself." Rukia said and Ichigo sighed and resisted a laugh,

'_Just like Rukia, evil when she wants to be.' _

Hours later:

Rukia saw the inanimate body of her husband lying on the bed as she removed her make up. The water dripped down her face in tiny swelling droplets and she felt her face cleansed of the copious amounts of make up she had to put on her face every single day. She looked back on the bed and sighed as she tightened the sash of her white yukata. This process was going to hurt, and unfortunately, it did every time.

She had started the process every month after they got married. He hadn't started talking to Kamen until after they were married, Ichigo knew he had Kamen, but Kamen didn't possessing him on the full moon every month until they were married. Ichigo's eyes were closed and he let out small breaths to let Rukia know he was still breathing.

Rukia had met Kamen before, numerous times, once he got used to you, he would never let anybody else treat him, she remembered a long time ago, she had been away and sent a maid to take care of him while she was gone for a while. It had ended badly because minutes later, the maid ran out screaming with numerous cuts and blood spilling everywhere.

Of course, Kamen was…rather feisty. He didn't listen to exorcisms…he only calmed down after he had his way with Rukia…_intimately_. Rukia moved her hands up while still glancing at Ichigo and removed her hair pin and let her locks fall to their normal length. Of course, no one told Orihime, they thought she didn't need to know, Rukia had decided to let Orihime figure out where Ichigo was and found out what he was really like on nights like the full moon.

She closed her eyes and let a sigh escape her lips and she reopened them, only to see golden eyes staring at her. Black sclera and golden honey eyes looked at her with a wicked grin. She turned around, not even scared at all.

"Good evening Kamen, I see you've come out early to play. Am I thinking correctly?" Rukia asked as she didn't even move from her seat and placed her hands in her laps and Kamen opened his mouth.

"Why queen, you always think correct, that's why I like you a lot." Kamen said as he swung his legs over the bed and looked at her, Rukia chuckled and smirked.

"I'm pretty sure you're just using that to allure me to you." Rukia said and Kamen cocked his head to the side.

"My, my queen, always correct, I like you like that." Kamen said as he hopped off the bed and grabbed her face forcefully and placed his lips on hers forcefully. It was powerful and Rukia felt her head tilt back immediately as soon as he crashed his lips onto hers. She kept her eyes open and just let him have his way with her, that's how he would submit eventually back into Ichigo's body.

Lifting her off the chair and pulling her onto the bed and pinning her down, he compacted her body to the bed with his body. He separated the kiss and looked up to see Rukia staring at him.

"Queen, you taste just as sweet, Ichigo is such a dumbass for letting you go like that to that what's her face named girl." Kamen said as he licked his lips and attacked her neck, biting and scraping it, he was going fast, and vicious. Rukia just only lay there, nothing she couldn't do about it when her arms were pinned over her head and her body was tightly pushed against the bed.

"Her name is Orihime; you should listen more often-ow!" Rukia hissed as he bit down on her neck roughly.

"I don't listen to that shit head that possesses this body, and I don't really care for her, I don't like her, I like you better anyways." Kamen smirked as he opened her yukata and his fingers roughly prodded her body. Then the door slammed open and Rukia sighed, she knew Orihime had come in.

"Where are you Ichi…?" Her voice stopped as she saw Kamen hovering over Rukia who Orihime assumed was Ichigo. Orihime's face grew angry and she glared at Rukia. "What do you think you're doing with him?!" Orihime yelled and Rukia quickly pushed Kamen off of her and tied her yukata once again.

"Inoue, you don't know the situation, you need to get out of here right now." Rukia hissed, she glanced at Kamen who was examining Orihime and he _did not _look happy.

"That's her?" Kamen asked, Orihime widened her eyes at Kamen's voice, it wasn't Ichigo's, it was distorted…more hysterical, crazy, twisted…not like Ichigo's at all. She backed away slowly.

"Who is he?" Orihime asked and Rukia sighed.

"That's Kamen, if you knew better, he's part of Ichigo's body, every full moon he comes out to play, and he doesn't like it when other people intrude while I'm taking care of him or when other people want to take care of him. I suggest you leave Inoue." Rukia ordered in a strict tone and Orihime stood her ground and glared at Rukia.

"You're not in control anymore Rukia, I am, so you better leave so I can take care of this, I might as well start learning the responsibilities of handling the Kurosaki household since Ichigo's going to kick you out soon." Orihime hissed and Rukia arched a brow and chuckled bitterly.

"You think that I'm just trying to lie around with my husband and take him away from you? Of course not, this is for everybody's safety, and yours, so go before you become damaged goods." Rukia said as she folded her hands in her lap and Orihime came closer until she was at the foot of the bed facing Rukia, Kamen was looking irritated.

"You think I'm goods?!" Orihime hissed and Rukia shot her a look.

"Well, you might want to consider yourself one, concubines are mostly pleasure women, I'm pretty sure your parents raised you to become a wife, not a pleasure girl." Rukia said and Kamen rubbed his eyes and glared at Rukia.

"Can we please just kill her and then go back to what we were doing Queen?" Kamen hissed and Rukia looked at him.

"There's no use, Orihime wants what she wants, and since she is your concubine, I should oblige, you might like her anyways, have fun with her, and I'll be sleeping somewhere else." Rukia said as she slid off the bed and Kamen dropped his jaw.

"But Queen, you're not going to leave me here with _her_ right?!" Kamen asked as he pointed to Orihime and Rukia chuckled as she stopped and looked at him and waved.

"Have fun, and make sure you tell Ichigo to ask a maid in the morning to change the sheets, you can have your way with her." Rukia said as she left the room and traveled elsewhere. Rukia smiled as she closed the door and sighed happily as she walked out with a smirk on her face.

Orihime would regret wanting to cure Kamen tonight.

**Author's note: short, I know, don't kill me, I have school tomorrow and I lied about updating yesterday, so! Have a good night; I have to do my English homework! Being an honors kid isn't easy! **

**Peace and leave those reviews for me. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: It's been forever, HASN'T IT? But I did come back, so I'm guessing all of you are angry at me, well I can understand since I disappeared like after February, seriously, these past months, have been, LE harsh on me since my computer broke down. I barely got the minimum filled in. So, I got a new computer, and it's the last day of school, well technically, it's NOT, but I promote tomorrow and fill out my last day as an eighth grader. I have some news: **

**Good news: I'm going to update, finish all of my stories, and make a new one and finish that up HOPEFULLY before I start a new school year. **

**Bad news: Whether I make that new story or not, I probably won't be writing ever again, when I finish these up, these will be the last pieces of writing I will ever contribute, I'm just getting busy. High school will definitely be a challenge, so I'll have to take care of that. I'm sorry. **

**Thank you everybody that messaged me and cried and begged me to write, I'm sorry I left for such a long time, but I am back. **

**Without further ado…**

**Infertile Love:**

**Okay, well I lied up there; it's like a week after my promotion right now that I'm writing, but who cares, let's get going: **

Rukia almost died in silent laughter as she saw Orihime trudge through the door the next day. Yet, she was a Kuchiki; she wasn't allowed to burst out laughing at small things. Even if she could laugh, it had to be polite and lady like. Bruises were apparent on her arms and she had quite the limp. Rukia tucked her left hand politely in her sleeve while fluttering her face with a fan in her right hand. She smiled contently as Orihime sat down.

"Did you have a nice night Orihime?" Rukia asked as Orihime gave her the worst glare. Rukia had to hold in a laugh as she put away her fan and tucked it in her sash.

"Yes Rukia-Sama, I had quite the evening, it was such a shame you let me take over, I feel honored though that I'm taking up _your _responsibilities as the head wife slowly." Orihime smirked and Rukia arched a slim brow and scoffed quietly and leaned closer to Orihime so her face was in front of hers.

"Listen to me Orihime, you will _never_ be the head wife as long as I live, have fun with your scars from last night. It must have hurt, I mean, since you're so delicate and fragile, you can't stand the pain, can you?" Rukia hissed as she pressed down on a bruise discreetly making Orihime snap and take her hand back.

"You little!" Orihime was intervened as Ichigo stepped in the room and looked at Rukia with a saddened face, like a puppy crying for his owner to give him copious amounts of attention.

"Rukia, you weren't in our bedroom this morning, I found Orihime instead…" Ichigo said as Rukia smirked and looked away with her eyes closed.

"She wanted to, so don't blame me, sit down, breakfast is about to be served." Rukia said politely as she gestured to the seat next to her. Ichigo followed as told and went to sit next to Rukia, not seeing the rage Orihime had in her eyes. It was evident and Rukia could see it and kept her smirk but it went away quickly as a messenger arrived.

"Kurosaki-Sama, there is a letter for you sent by Master Szayel* Apporo Granz." The messenger stated Ichigo widened his eyes quickly as he heard the name while Rukia looked at the messenger who was kneeling on the ground.

"What is his business with me?" Rukia asked and the messenger nodded.

"He wants to see you to give you a gift and give you a tour of his kimonos that he has been working on recently. He said it would be an honor if you were to come today." Rukia thought for a minute, she knew she had heard _something_ very recent about Szayel Apporo Granz, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She wanted an excuse to get out of the house and she took this opportunity.

"Tell him I will be there in the afternoon, it will be very pleasing to see what he has been working on recently. Dismissed." Rukia ordered and the messenger went away. Ichigo was panicking, Rukia had just agreed to go to Szayel Apporo Granz's store, and she would be put into immediate danger.

"Rukia, I don't want you going to him today." Ichigo ordered and Rukia dropped her chopsticks in surprise at the command, the small bundle of rice in her chopsticks had landed back in the bowl and she looked at him.

"Why wouldn't you want me to go Ichigo? It's harmless, it's not like he's going to do anything to me." Rukia said calmly as she took a sip of her tea to hide the surprise that had been shoved into her mind.

"Didn't you hear the news about him recently? What he's done?" Ichigo asked as quietly as possible without showing her he was worried about her. Orihime intently listened to the conversation.

"I remember I was told something of him, I can't remember it, please Ichigo, he's not harmless, and I've visited him before." Rukia pointed out and Ichigo narrowed his amber eyes.

"Well that was before the news, please Rukia; I'm begging you not to go." Ichigo said, even if he did say it like that, Rukia thought he wasn't being sincere about it. She rolled her eyes at him playfully and patted his arm, like the good old days before they were married.

"It'll be alright, don't worry so much about me." Rukia said as she once picked up her chopsticks and lightly picked up a small bundle of rice and put it in her mouth. He looked at her and sighed as he looked away.

"Then at least bring Sode No Shirayuki with you, at least you'll have some protection alright?" Ichigo prodded and Rukia stopped eating, he watched her take a deep intake of air, he always liked the way her chest moved when she took a deep breath. Yet, he knew most of her deep breaths were to calm herself down in annoyance.

"I'll be fine Ichigo, trust me this once okay?" Rukia said as she gave him a pleasing look, where her wondrous violet eyes were half lidded and her dark lashes nearly touched her pink cheeks.

"Fine then, if I can't, do as you like." Ichigo said as he looked away and tried to stomach his breakfast without worrying too much about Rukia as she went back to complimenting the chef for the wonderful breakfast. He finished breakfast and got up without saying a word and ventured to his bedroom and walked over to Rukia's vanity. He opened a hidden drawer and saw the white, pure, gleaming butterfly crystal glistening and saw another crystal, the dark, black, moon shaped crystal that was his. He grabbed both; put the hidden drawer back, his black haori leaving a small trail of wind as he walked away from the vanity.

He was greeted with a maid that bowed to him and stopped him in his path.

"What is it Ayame?" Ichigo asked calmly and the maid looked up at him with bright green eyes. Ayame had gotten married recently and she was to be released next week. He and Rukia had sent their luck to her already, but she wanted to remain for one more week.

"Master Grimmjow is here to visit you today; he's in the main hall with Kurosaki-Sama." She said quietly and respectfully as she bowed and Ichigo drew his lips into a smile. He hadn't seen Grimmjow since Ichigo had gotten married. Grimmjow was not yet married, but he did love Nelliel Tu OdverSchvank. A rumor went around the noble houses that Grimmjow was already planned to be wedded to Nelliel, so they were both happy.

"Good then, thank you Ayame, dismissed." Ichigo said as she left quickly and Ichigo walked towards the hall to see Grimmjow drinking tea with Rukia as they conversed happily with each other. Ichigo stepped in and both Rukia and Grimmjow looked up, Grimmjow got up and went to hug Ichigo and pat him on the back.

"Long time no see Kurosaki. I've been talking with your lovely wife here, she's a keeper." Grimmjow noted as Rukia laughed slightly.

"Really Grimmjow, you are much too honest." Rukia said as she gestured Ichigo and Grimmjow to sit down. Grimmjow saw Orihime who was staring at him and he smirked.

"Well Grimmjow, what brings you here?" Ichigo asked as he took his cup of tea which had been refilled after he had left, the wisps of steam accumulating to tickle his nose slightly as he drank.

"Business Kurosaki, I'm pretty sure you've heard of the recent situation." Grimmjow didn't want to say out loud what happened with Szayel, the Arrancars were planning to kill him soon, and Grimmjow was part of the Arrancars.

"Yeah, it's a terrible situation, but I don't think I've formally introduced you to Orihime Inoue." Ichigo said as Grimmjow saw Orihime smiling at him softly, but Grimmjow could see more behind the fake smile, he turned back to Ichigo.

"Is this your concubine? I'm surprised; with Rukia here I wouldn't think that you would need one." Grimmjow scoffed as Rukia slammed down her cup of tea surprising him.

"It's what he wanted Grimmjow, and who am I to stop him?" Rukia said as she got up and smoothed out her kimono and looked at Ichigo.

"I'll be going now to Szayel; I'll be back in the afternoon." Rukia said as she turned. Ichigo widened his eyes and stood up quickly.

"Wait Rukia!" Ichigo yelled and Rukia stopped and turned around.

"What, what is it Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she was suddenly put into an embrace by Ichigo, his arms wrapped around her tightly, she could smell the fresh scent of strawberry on him, she was tense. Ichigo hadn't hugged her in a long time. She relaxed a little into the embrace. Yet, the feeling in her chest, it was burning and Rukia couldn't even deny it.

"Be safe." Ichigo said as he held her tighter, she smelled of vanilla and it was refreshing, and he knew she couldn't feel the pit in his chest start to form, something that made him want to hold onto her tighter. He realized he had to control himself but he held on.

"O-okay, can you please let go of me?" Rukia asked softly and he let her go. She smiled softly at him and then proceeded to leave the household, once she was out of sight; Grimmjow looked at Ichigo who was looking at the path Rukia had walked towards.

"You do realize he's raped more than ten girls' right? She's in danger." Grimmjow said as Ichigo nodded softly and turned his head and smirked.

"Why did you think I hugged her?" Ichigo asked as he held up his own crystal and Grimmjow smirked.

"You do care about your wife." Grimmjow said as he looked at Orihime who was clenching up her fists in her white kimono and left abruptly. Orihime walked quickly out of the dining hall, she was jealous that Ichigo still treated Rukia fondly still even after the whole incident. She thought her becoming his concubine would change their relationship drastically but it didn't. She hurried into another area and slammed open the door and saw the man she wanted to see.

"Orihime what are you doing here?" The man asked and Orihime sat down and stared at the piece of jewelry the man was making. A beautiful white swan hair piece that had its neck arched so that its head was nestled onto the hook of its body and the body was decorated with elaborate feathers that made the insignia of R.K. representing Rukia Kurosaki, or Kuchiki, it didn't matter. The man was dotting the body carefully with diamonds and small pearls.

"So Sora, what are you working on?" Orihime asked as Sora smiled happily, Orihime had finally taken interest in his work.

"It's a swan, for Kurosaki-Sama, I've been wanting to make her a hair piece for a long time, she hasn't had a new one since I've been sick, she paid for my doctor." Sora said as he finished placing the jewels on the body of the swan and took a brush and lightly coated some powder and blew away the extra.

"Oh yeah, that's right, so what do you want?" Sora asked as he carefully started painting the nose and lips, and feet on the swan. Orihime twirled an orange lock and opened her mouth.

"Is there any records of jewelers being able to put poison in their jewelry so that when they give it to a certain person they die after wearing it?" Orihime asked and Sora looked up at her and blinked.

"Well yes, there has, but if they're making animals, they put it in the eyes of the jewelry, because eyes are delicate on animals, if you insert poison and put on the jewel, you're guaranteed to kill the person. The poison spreads across the animal as the person moves and will seep into the person's skin and kill them. You would have to put a small dose to kill a person. Why do you ask?" Sora asked and Orihime leaned up close to Sora and he was beginning to become scared.

"Could you put poison in Rukia's jewelry if you wanted to?" Orihime asked and Sora widened his eyes, she possibly couldn't be asking… He scooted away from Orihime and swallowed the growing lump in his throat.

"I could, but I don't, why would I?" Sora asked and Orihime smiled wickedly.

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me try to kill Rukia, she deserves it, I need the top title, and I need her out." Orihime said and Sora widened his eyes.

"Orihime, you'll be executed if you do that!" Sora said and Orihime looked away and looked back at him, giving him a sweet look.

"And that's where you come in, you could help me, we'll never be caught, please help me Sora!" Orihime pleaded and Sora glared at her.

"I won't poison my lady. She has helped me live! I will never defy Kurosaki-Sama." Sora said harshly and Orihime pouted her lips slightly.

"Please Sora, help me! I beg you; don't you want me to live a happier life? And if you kick her out, I could let you have the life you wanted!" Orihime said as she rung her hands and Sora glared at her in disgust.

"This is the life I want Orihime, this is the reason why I left!" Sora yelled and Orihime grew in rage.

"This is why mother and father _kicked _you out of the house, you never listened to them! You do what you want always, and look where that has gotten you! Living and working for the very woman I despise!" Orihime yelled and Sora slammed down the swan and the tweezers he was holding.

"Mother and Father never loved me! They didn't care; I left to have a life where I didn't need a mother and father like that. I'm doing what I want because I want to. You're doing what you want because you're a greedy and selfish little girl. You've always been like this! I am very grateful towards the Kurosaki family, they saved my life Orihime, and I won't kill the lady of the household." Sora said and Orihime got up abruptly and stood over him.

"If you won't do it, I'll do it myself. Goodbye _brother_." Orihime said as she slammed open the door and closed it leaving Sora by himself with his workers watching Sora as he sighed and shook his head, he was glad his workers hadn't heard the argument. Sora glared at the door and picked up his work and started working again.

Rukia looked up at the tall red colored shop that had been tastefully small, but big enough to hold all of the kimonos and show case them and have a station to work on them. She stepped inside and was greeted by Lumina and Verona, Szayel's workers and they bowed.

"Szayel-Sama, Kurosaki-Sama is here! Kurosaki-Sama is here, Kurosaki-Sama is here!" They bounced giddily as they offered her tea and Rukia arched a brow at their peculiar behavior. They were still childlike. Szayel came out with a smile as he adjusted his glasses, he was wearing a light blue kimono and matching hakama and a loose white haori that had been precariously draped over his shoulders.

"Ah Kurosaki-Sama, it's nice to see you have accepted my invitation to come see my latest work." Szayel said as he bowed, wearing a small smile on his face and Rukia smiled as she bowed.

"It's a pleasure to come over and see what you've been doing; you are rather fantastic at your work." Rukia complimented as she fingered a soft pink kimono with red flowers adorning all around the kimono and a darker pink silk sash had been tied on with the kimono.

"Come Kurosaki-Sama, what I wanted to show you are in my workshop, come along." Szayel gestured for her to follow him and carefully Rukia did as he held a shimmering purple curtain with beads laced onto the curtain. Rukia immediately felt something was wrong when she entered in a room full of large mirrors and saw one kimono on a mannequin. The kimono was frosty lavender, her favorite color. It had been designed so that it only reached to mid thigh length, something she would obviously not wear, maybe he was making it for the late summer, it would be Autumn soon so he probably wanted to preserve what was left of the youth of summer. It was decorated so that white butterflies had been placed all around and a beautiful phoenix started from her right breast and its elegant tail swirled into a circle an inch before the hem was made of the kimono. She didn't notice that Szayel was behind her until she felt his cold breath on her neck. She immediately tensed up.

"Do you like it Kurosaki-Sama?" The voice wasn't as gentle as before, more teasing, and darker in intentions. She widened her eyes slightly, but calmed herself down and rubbed her hands together.

"It looks extravagant; it's truly a fine piece Szayel." Rukia said as she swallowed a small lump down her throat, hearing the loud swallowing sound as it traveled.

"Would you like to have it?" Szayel asked in a deeper, huskier voice that didn't really work out for him. It succeeded in making Rukia shiver to the bones of her body.

"If it's alright with you, but it looks a tad bit too small for my size." Rukia noted and Szayel threw back his head and laughed.

"Don't worry about it being too small, I made sure the measurements were just _your _size." Szayel said and Rukia gasped slightly as he grabbed her arm gently. "Do you want to try it on?" Szayel asked and Rukia widened her violet eyes.

"Sure, since you did take the time making me this lovely gift," Rukia felt frightened, but she kept her face with no emotion to betray her calm façade, "I guess I will if you would please," She was stopped when she felt Szayel tug at her sash.

"Why don't I help you then Kurosaki-Sama?" Szayel laughed as he tugged on her sleeve and loosened her sash so that the sleeve fell down and Rukia immediately snagged sleeve back and tightened her sash. She looked at him with widened eyes.

"I remember now…what I was told about you, you raped those other girls!" Rukia exclaimed and Szayel smiled as he came walking towards her.

"Of course I did, and you fell quite easily in my trap, you have no protection, I heard that you had not brought your crystal, so you cannot do anything Kurosaki-Sama." Szayel said as Rukia widened her eyes. She had not brought it with her, and she was too far away from home to summon its power.

'_I don't even have Shirayuki with me, I should have listened to Ichigo, oh god…' _

'_Do not fear master, I'm right here, Ichigo slipped me into your sash before you left, that's why he hugged you earlier master, I am here, wield me!' _Shirayuki commanded and Rukia smirked.

"Dance, Sode No Shirayuki." Rukia commanded as Szayel widened his eyes and stared at Rukia holding a gleaming white sword, a white flawless ribbon attached that formed from the butt of the sword.

"How is that possible? You're too far away from home!" Szayel exclaimed and Rukia smiled slightly.

"It seems like my husband is a smart man, he's very well with sneaking things in my pocket or my sash. It's been this way since we were children." Rukia said as Szayel grew in anger and attacked with a slight attack and Rukia dodged.

"Some No Mai, Tsukishiro." Rukia commanded as a white ice pillar made it's way, it encased Szayel's arm and as the ice pillar shattered, so did Szayel's arm, he screamed in agony and decided to bring out his own sword and attacked. Rukia held her stance and was prepared to fight.

Ichigo sat quietly, Rukia had not returned in the time period she said she would return. He sipped his tea until a messenger had burst into the main hall as Ichigo talked with Grimmjow, Grimmjow and Ichigo looked at the sweating and frantic messenger.

"What is it, tell me what's wrong!" Ichigo said as the messenger caught his breath.

"Kurosaki-Sama, your wife, she and Szayel have been engaged in battle, hurry!" The messenger said as Ichigo looked at Grimmjow and both quickly saddled their horses and rushed their horses with the messenger to the site. As they neared closer, Ichigo saw the store in a blanket of ice. There was a large crowd surrounding the area of snow and Ichigo halted his horse and jumped off. Grimmjow did as well and the messenger made a clear path for the both of them.

Ichigo looked around desperately, he could still feel Rukia and Szayel's power was at a low state that Rukia's power, which had been reduced as well could overpower him. He looked and soon saw a tidal wave of ice destroy the shop entirely and as he looked, Szayel had been obliterated in the ice. There was still no sign of Rukia. The crowd grew silent as they waited for the outcome and a few minutes later, they all saw Rukia emerge out of the plains of snow that had been built in the duration of the battle.

Rukia walked out and Ichigo was glad to see that she had but a few scratches and bruising, she wasn't bleeding, he knew she was strong. With a flick of her wrist, the white gleaming sword had disappeared and she walked strongly. Yet he could feel she was still trying to walk properly with much effort. He walked towards her and Rukia could sense that Ichigo was right in front of her. There was a lot of noise since authorities were clearing out people and telling them to go home except for Grimmjow and the crowd dissipated.

"Rukia, are you alright?" Ichigo asked as Rukia stopped and looked at him. Her hair was messed up, the pretty bun she had it in had fallen out and her usual ebony locks fell on her shoulders.

"Yeah I'm fine Ichigo, thank you for putting Shirayuki in my sash." Rukia said as a tired smile went on her lips and Ichigo nodded.

"I was just trying to protect you; we should get you treated right now." Ichigo said as he held out his hand and Rukia playfully slapped it away.

"I'm fine; I'm just a little…" She stopped as her feet stopped working and she was falling face first before Ichigo caught her in his arms and smirked.

"Come on Kuchiki, you are not going to walk by yourself. When you get healed, you'll be riding with me." Ichigo said as he held her hand and led her to the physician waiting for them and Rukia looked up and smiled at her husband.

As she was getting treated for the cuts and wounds, Ichigo was pretty sure that Rukia had loosened her grip on his hand and wiggled her fingers into his and interlaced their hands and he saw her smile. As soon as she was done being patched up Ichigo got up on his horse and helped Rukia get on after and he told Rukia to hold onto him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her neck on his shoulder and dug her face lovingly into the crook of his neck. He started the horse after having a pink tinge come onto his face, but it quickly went away as they started the silent journey back home.

"You falling asleep Rukia?" Ichigo asked quietly and Rukia shook her head.

"Thank you Ichigo, thank you." Rukia said quietly and Ichigo scoffed.

"It's not that big of a deal Rukia, but you should listen to me when I say bring protection." Ichigo scolded and Rukia laughed, he loved her laugh, it was soft, like tinkering bells that had been hit lightly like chimes by the wind.

"But seriously, thank you for that." Rukia said as she leaned up and kissed his cheek tenderly and went back to resting her head on his shoulder. He was pretty sure she had fallen asleep in the next ten minutes and he gingerly lifted a hand to the cheek she had kissed. He smiled softly and tugged on the reins to make the horses go faster. As they reached home, Rukia hadn't awoken so Ichigo had gotten off and he carried Rukia into the house and set her gently down in their bed. He smiled as he smoothed away her hair and kissed her forehead.

"No problem, any time Rukia." Ichigo said as he walked out and closed the door, still smiling softly at his wife.

**Author note: Whoo, I felt good about this chapter, review for me mmkay and tell me how I did for a first time being back from such a long break. I love all of you guys, and I will update next week. For now, I have to go work on my other stories! **

**Goodbye! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: Before you KILL ME, I have a couple of things to say. NOT. I'M RUNNING FROM YOU ANGRY PEOPLE. No, I'm just kidding, I shall be brave, even if it ends up with me being beaten with bamboo sticks. So, I'm in High School, I have gone through SO much drama, it's unbelievable. I want it to end so badly. But phew, I'm here! So never fear, Fairy person, like, thing, is here! **

**Yep, man, I want to thank all of my dedicated readers, you keep me going through the day. **

**Let's get it on! No perverted joke intended…**

**BTW: You should thank XBlueSkyX for making me update again…even though she's not holding her part of the bargain…go on her profile and MESSAGE her like crazy telling her to update. Lady owes me three updates now! **

Infertile Love:

Rukia gently glided into the dining hall, after waking up and realizing what had happened yesterday, she smiled a little when she thought of Ichigo. Her smile wiped away a little and she sat down in her proper place after gently pressing a 'Good morning' to everybody.

"Rukia, I see you are feeling better." Ichigo asked and Rukia took a sip of her tea, enjoying the small burning of her tongue from the hot tea.

"I am thank you for your concern." The gentle polite tone reached Ichigo's ears; he knew it was one from her heart, not some fake tone that she had given him when she was mad at him. Orihime tilted her head to the side and looked at Ichigo and Rukia who seemed to be stealing glances at each other and smiling a little bit. Orihime burned with sudden rage after she remembered about yesterday. The whole house, including maids were talking about how Rukia had given Ichigo a small kiss on the cheek as they arrived home.

"You two look awfully happy today with each other." Orihime added in and Rukia looked at her and felt her amethyst eyes narrow automatically.

"Its how we normally act around each other Orihime, you talk of nonsense." Rukia inputted and Orihime twirled a lock around her finger while studying Rukia's face. She couldn't help but envy Rukia. Rukia had the pretty violet eyes, she had the nice hair, the clothes, shoes, accessories, life, makeup, and most importantly, she was Ichigo's wife. Orihime wished that she had been in Rukia's place, married to Ichigo. Orihime then would have the spotlight, the Kurosaki name, and the money.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm not Rukia, after all, you seem more affectionate towards him than usual." Orihime cut in and Rukia arched an elegant brow and set down her chopsticks quietly.

"I am not allowed to be gentle towards my own husband Orihime? After all, you are just a _concubine_." Rukia laced her last words with venom and it was apparent to Orihime, and Ichigo. Ichigo swallowed thickly, he knew this war between Orihime and Rukia would never end.

"Now you two, let's just settle down and…" He was cut off with a sharp interjection from Orihime who slammed her hands down on the table and stood up pointed a thin finger at Rukia.

"Who cares if I'm a concubine? You don't even act like a wife to your own husband; you treat him as if he's nothing!" Orihime hissed, causing attention towards their table. Rukia looked up at Orihime with no indifference in her eyes, she sighed and got up. Brushing imaginary dust off of the elaborate navy kimono she looked at Orihime and frowned.

"You should act more appropriately Orihime, it's not wise to screech like a banshee in public," Rukia turned to Ichigo and nodded her head towards him. "I shall be going; Sora Inoue has asked me to see him after breakfast to give me my new hair pin." Rukia said in a monotone voice and Ichigo looked at her unfinished breakfast.

"I think you should finish eating first Rukia, you haven't eaten much." Ichigo said in a small voice and Rukia gave him a short smile, a gentle curve of her lips.

"I'll be fine; my appetite has been ruined anyways. I shall see you soon for tea." Rukia said as she walked out of the hallway and Orihime plopped down in her chair and Ichigo looked at her.

"Did you really have to be mean like that to Rukia? She just got out of a fight Orihime." Ichigo said, a little angry with Orihime's actions and Orihime pouted.

"Come on Ichigo, it's not really that big of a deal, it's not like I said anything bad." Orihime pushed gently, she didn't want to make Ichigo mad.

"Yes you did Orihime," Orihime frowned at Ichigo's words but stayed quiet, "I wish you would be nicer to her." Ichigo sighed and Orihime frowned even more.

"She's not nice to me, why should I try?" Orihime asked and Ichigo scowled and waved his hand at her.

"Just forget I said anything Orihime." Ichigo waved away and Orihime stared at him the rest of the time he was eating silently. She became angry and she looked down and had her tangerine hair cover her face. She felt her fists tighten and she felt anger consume her.

Rukia walked into the pavilion and felt the fresh autumn breeze hit her face. She turned giddy when she realized winter was coming in a few months. She practically loved winter; it was her favorite season by far.

She sat down in front of ten maids standing around her and Sora Inoue held a little box in his hands. She smiled at the man before her; he was a good friend of hers.

"Good morning Kurosaki-Sama, I see you are doing well." Sora greeted and Rukia laughed a little, lilting the whole environment around her to be peaceful.

"You know you don't have to call me that Sora, you can just call me Rukia." Rukia replied and Sora chuckled as he scratched the back of his head and opened the box and Rukia peered inside.

"It's a swan, I thought you might like it for your new hair piece, I thought a swan would simply represent you. Elegant and beautiful, it says you. Made of white pearl, with other jewels studded on, it'll be a nice piece with any type of kimono you are wearing Rukia." Sora stated as Rukia looked on and nodded. Sora stood up from his kneeling position and handed it to a maid who took it and placed it in Rukia's hair. They handed Rukia a mirror to see the shining jewel in her hair.

Rukia examined it and felt a smile rise on her lips as she began to fall in love with the jewelry. She put the mirror aside and smiled at Sora.

"It's a wonderful piece Sora, just like always." Rukia said, she didn't even notice the jewel in her hair began to leak of red. Rukia smiled until she saw a maid gasp in horror and point at her hair.

"Kurosaki-Sama, your hairpiece, it's…it's…bleeding!" The maid pointed out and Rukia widened her eyes and immediately took out the jewel and threw it on the ground, it didn't shatter. Rukia stared at the piece as she saw the red fluid seep out of it's eyes and onto the ground. A hissing sound was made as it made contact with the cement. Rukia knew exactly what it was.

Poison.

Sora looked confused and he shot Rukia a look and Rukia thought who it might be, knowing it wasn't Sora. She had no choice; this would put her plan into effect.

"Guards, chain up Sora Inoue and have him placed in dungeon immediately!" Rukia shouted and guards locked him up and Sora looked at her with wide eyes and as Rukia passed Sora she whispered, "Don't be afraid, just go along with it." Sora immediately tensed and nodded as he pretended to be scared and walked through the courtyard as Rukia vanished in a flurry.

**Author's note: I'm tired, sorry it's so short! I'll promise I'll make it up to you guys. It's getting pretty spicy now! Just like the curry I had yesterday! I love curry. It makes me happy. Anyways, don't forget to leave those reviews. I love you all my little fairies! **

**I shall all call you my little fairies sine I am 'Fairy' because of my Pen name! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Surprised I'm not dead! No, I'm pretty much alive, just have been lazy for the past few days. I did start a new IchiRuki story, so you can go on my profile to go check it out! **

**It's called The Romance of Dance I believe. Wow, this is fail; I can't even remember my own story titles. **

**Well anyways, here is a JUICY update! **

Rukia sighed as she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Her long nails soothing her growing headache, she opened an eye to see one of her friends, Sora, panicking as he walked back and forth.

"I don't know what to do Rukia, I'm the current gossip of the household, and I'm a prisoner, but I'm not even in shackles!" Sora blabbed and Rukia looked at him from her large chair.

"Look Sora, I know you're innocent, but who do you think could have put poison in my necklace? You're one of my friends; I trust you wouldn't ever do something like that to me." Rukia stated and Sora widened his eyes.

"It can't be I thought she was just joking…" Sora whispered the last part, but Rukia heard him clearly, she got off of her chair and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Who do you think it might have been Sora? You know this is an offense, punishable by execution; you could be executed for no reason if you don't tell me who you think it is. Do you know anybody that has been acting awkward lately, a little bit suspicious?" Rukia asked and Sora brought up a hand to his face in horror and turned to face Rukia.

"I mean, she was acting weird, and she asked me to poison you, and when I refused, she said she would herself, but I thought she was just joking." Sora restated and Rukia arched a thin, elegant brow.

"You have to tell me who she is Sora, if I don't talk to her now; she could try to kill me later." Rukia explained she saw Sora swallow thickly before he opened his mouth.

"I think it was my sister." Sora whispered and Rukia widened her eyes as she stayed quiet and let her arm drop from Sora's shoulder.

Meanwhile:

Ichigo walked through the garden, the cherry blossoms were coming into season, and he was currently walking with Inoue.

Inoue was prattling about how beautiful the flowers were and how she should reinvent the whole garden and add marigolds, flowers she knew Rukia hated.

Ichigo listened intently and stopped to pluck a soft pink rose and twirled it in his finger.

"I wouldn't advise to plant marigolds, Rukia doesn't like them." Ichigo said as the beautifully bloomed rose twirled with his gentle finger motions. Orihime looked at the rose, even though she didn't like Ichigo's earlier comment, she was sure Ichigo would give the rose to her. Orihime's arm was looped through Ichigo's, and she snuggled up closer to him, her chest pressing on his arm, but he didn't seem to care. She frowned when Ichigo still hadn't given her the pretty pink rose, and instead, just kept on twirling it in his fingers with a pleasant smile on his face. She fumed; she knew who he was thinking about.

She kept her anger away until Rukia suddenly came out and her hair was a bit messed, it was in a messy bun.

In a flash, Orihime saw Ichigo's face light up and she felt herself being dragged over to Rukia and Orihime fumbled a bit.

Rukia walked over calmly, and nodded her head.

"Ichigo, how are you today?" Rukia asked and Ichigo smiled a little bit.

"Oh, I'm fine; I was just observing the garden with Orihime." Ichigo stated and Rukia looked at the rose in his hand.

"Oh, I see that the roses have bloomed, they look quite excellent, I remember when we planted them." Rukia said, as she smiled a little bit, Orihime questioned the smile.

'_No wonder why he looked so happy picking those roses, oh well, he won't give it to her anyways, maybe just toss it later on.' _

"I remember, but, I plucked this rose just for you, it was the best of the bunch." Ichigo said as Rukia gently plucked the flower from his hands and looked up at him.

"Oh, thank you Ichigo, it's quite pleasant." Rukia said as she looked down at the flower and Ichigo smiled.

"Don't worry about it, but it'll look way better after I do something to it." Ichigo said as he picked up the flower, and tucked it behind Rukia's ear, making Orihime see anger, and Rukia blush pink.

Rukia smiled up at Ichigo and he smiled back, Orihime felt Ichigo's grip loosen on her arm. Rukia's smile went away after a while though and it fell to a flat, serious face.

"Ichigo, I do need to speak to you though, it's very important." Rukia said as Ichigo shook Orihime off of his arm, without knowing it and looked at Rukia.

"What is it about?" Ichigo asked and Rukia sighed as she closed her eyes and then opened them, seeing Orihime glare at her and Rukia hid the anger on her face. Rukia looked back at Ichigo and then sighed.

"Sora Inoue has been locked up for poisoning me with his jewelry; we need to check this out." Rukia said, discreetly looking at Orihime who was panicking slightly.

"No, it can't be my brother would never do something like that!" Orihime shouted a little, Rukia and Ichigo looked at her in shock, as Orihime started to shake. "I have to see him now!" Orihime shouted and Rukia smirked behind her cold face.

Ichigo then left Orihime and stomped over to the meeting hall with anger in his face, Rukia looked at Orihime who looked at Rukia, and then ran after Ichigo in terror. Rukia smirked.

Orihime was in a jumble as she ran after Ichigo who was seen out of her sight.

'_What if Ichigo finds out it was me? He'll hate me, I'll lose my precious title, and hopefully he won't kill me.' _

_Flashback: _

_It was late in the night. Orihime was quiet as she budged through a door, her soft footsteps leading towards the dimly lit table. She smiled as she looked at the elegant art piece. _

_Her smile then quickly faded, she wished that someday, servants would be making her that kind of jewelry. She longed for that last name; she was envious that the likes of someone of Rukia's stature could possess that name. _

_She smiled; she was in a light blue yukata and withdrew from her sash a light blue vial, with dark red liquid inside. It hissed dangerously as she swung it around, and around in the bottle to shake it. _

_Orihime opened the vial and also took out a dropper. She filled the dropper with the dark liquid. _

_Using tweezers found on her brother's table, she had taken out the piece that served as the eye. Carefully, she had filled up the dark pocket with poison and then placed the eye back on. It would take a while to drip out, but she knew her brother would be presenting it tomorrow in the morning, the exact time the poison would leak. She smiled as she walked out of the room, closed the door, and then slip the poison in the trash. _

_She smirked as she walked away from the room and off into her own room. _

Orihime's eyes were filled with panic as she saw her brother on his knees, in shackles, with the guards surrounding the inside of the room. She saw Ichigo walk towards the guards and yelled at them to leave immediately, they followed orders and walked out after saluting him. Ichigo had started throwing things and Orihime sunk to her knees in front of her brother.

Rukia stood by the doorway and smirked.

'_Got you now Orihime.' _Rukia thought as she calmly walked after them.

**Author's note: AND THE PLOT THICKENS, DOESN'T IT? DOESN'T IT? D: I'm sorry for not updating since what, October? I'm really sorry. I feel like a fail for not. **

**Anyways, I hope you don't think this was a bad coming back chapter, honestly, I don't know the next time I will update. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Inspiration sprung up when I was doing my California Standardized testing today. I had been drawing while I was bored, which consisted a drawing of bunnies chopping carrots. That's right. Anyways, back to the point. **

**It's a quick thing. Just to let you guys know that I'm not dead. **

**And I have to update anyways, XBlueSkyX pushed me to update, after she updated. ._. I'm so late. **

**Its Spring Break everybody! :D YEAH.**

Rukia had to use her teeth to clamp hard on her own lip. It took her all of her own will not to smile at the scene.

To see Orihime on her knees, with a frightened look on her face, it amused Rukia.

Rukia acted angry, and calm, but instead, she just wanted to smile.

"This isn't right! Why is he here?" Orihime asked as Sora looked at the ground, he was kneeling in front of Rukia and Ichigo. Orihime had sat besides Sora and talked to him.

Rukia looked sternly at the siblings and sat down in the chair that was brought in for Ichigo and herself.

"Sora Inoue has been placed under arrest for trying to kill me." Rukia said in a calm voice as Orihime looked up at her in anger.

"You're accusing him? How dare you?" Orihime screeched and Rukia folded her arms discreetly in her robes.

"I'm not accusing him, I _know_ he did it." Rukia stated as Ichigo, who was standing bent down to grab Sora by his kimono and snarled.

"Why the hell did you do this? We saved you, Rukia saved you, and this is how you repay us? You're lucky that I don't kill you here and now. Better yet, that sounds like a good idea right about now." Ichigo snarled and Rukia gripped Ichigo's wrist with her delicate fingers.

He looked at her and tugged on his wrist.

"Let me go Rukia! He needs to be punished, no one _touches_ you." Ichigo growled, and Sora looked frightened. Rukia discreetly looked at Orihime, who was fuming.

"Let go Ichigo, we can handle this situation calmly." Rukia said as Ichigo loosened his grip on Sora and Sora fell to the ground again and stepped back.

Orihime was angry. She was angry, not because her brother was in shackles, but because, she was angry that Ichigo was coming to Rukia's defense in the situation. Ichigo wasn't even concerned about her.

'_That bitch! She's just using Sora as a way for her to steal him from me! I won't let this happen!' _

"Sora didn't do it! And I know he wouldn't! Why are you accusing him? You're heartless!" Orihime yelled as she pointed a finger at Rukia and Rukia sighed as she arched a brow at Orihime.

"Okay then Orihime, if it wasn't him, who is it then?" Rukia felt like smirking, but she held it in as Orihime widened her eyes.

It had become silent, and Ichigo stared at Orihime in anger.

"If you know who it is Orihime, _say_ something." Ichigo said in a stern voice and Orihime widened her eyes.

"I, I…" Orihime started and Ichigo raised a brow, his scowl becoming more permanent in his mood.

"Orihime, please, tell me!" Ichigo pleaded and Orihime looked at him, then at Rukia who was staring at Orihime and Sora. Orihime felt anger well and push its way to her brain.

"I don't know." Orihime stated in a monotone voice as she got up, Sora looked up at her and widened his eyes.

"Orihime, don't lie!" Sora shouted and Orihime widened her eyes.

"You do know who it is, I know you do!" Sora shouted and Orihime fought away the tears.

Ichigo was more important to her, even than her own brother, she wanted to keep Ichigo by her side, and be the one he called her queen. Ichigo and Rukia stared at her.

"Orihime, if you don't tell us who might have tried to kill me, then I have permission to execute your brother, and prison you for withholding information." Rukia stated and Orihime stared blankly at Sora and looked back with intensive eyes at Rukia.

"I'm sorry Rukia-Sama, my brother is lying, and I really don't know who would try to poison you." Orihime blankly said and Rukia kept her composure while Sora was gaping at Orihime.

Ichigo looked at Sora and snarled.

"You're lucky that you don't get death as your punishment." Ichigo snarled. Rukia pursed her lips and turned to a guard.

"Take him back into the jail cells; he'll stay there until we decide a proper punishment." Rukia said as the guard nodded and took Sora away. Rukia looked at Orihime while Ichigo left the room in a flurry and Orihime glared at Rukia.

Rukia arched a brow and began walking away as Orihime stared, Rukia smiled discreetly.

Next day:

Rukia watched as Ichigo began to throw things around his office while she brought him his morning tea. She took a sip of it and watched him. He stopped and stared at her.

"You're just going to send him into exile? Not even a death sentence?" Ichigo screeched and Rukia looked away as she took a sip of her tea.

"That's the punishment that I've decided, the man doesn't deserve to die." Rukia calmly said as Ichigo sat down across from her and took a sip of his tea.

"Still, that's outrageous Rukia, that's unacceptable." Ichigo growled and Rukia gently put a hand on his and Ichigo was shocked by her cool touch, her touch tingled his skin a little bit.

He looked up at her to see Rukia smile softly at him.

"I know what I'm doing, don't you trust me?" Rukia asked softly and Ichigo took a sip of his tea and looked at her.

"I do, just, sometimes, I worry that I can't keep you safe anymore." Ichigo said as he squeezed her hand and Rukia smiled as they gripped each other's hand in comfort.

An hour later:

Rukia was at the prison blocks, Sora had packed his stuff and Rukia slipped him a piece of paper.

The guards were watching Rukia and Sora just to make sure Sora wouldn't do anything to her.

Rukia sternly looked at him and glared at him.

"Sora Inoue, your punishment is exile, go on and leave." Rukia said as she whisked herself away and Sora began walking.

Sora read the piece of paper after he was out of sight from the guards that led him outside of the Kurosaki estate.

On the piece of paper he smiled gently as he quietly thanked Rukia for giving him directions to a small housing that was just outside of the Kurosaki land.

**Author's note: I'm super sorry this is short! But, I really wanted to update before I got shipped off to my aunt's house tomorrow. I'm staying there for the rest of break so I probably can't update after that. **

**Alright, so the plot thickens? OH YEAH. I feel like busting out into a song right now, which would be VERY embarrassing. **

**Anywhoos, see what I did there? I made the two of them have a sweet moment :D Have a nice day! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: So, I'm updating, it has been a while hasn't it? Well, I'm just going to update really quickly, as much as I can okay? Don't be too upset if it's short. **

**Tumblr warning: YOUR FAVORITE Fairy in the whole world, just joking, I'm a horrible writer and I'm probably not your favorite. Anywhoos, I did make a tumblr! IF you have one, you should follow me. **

**It's theasian – rainbow unicorn rice . tumblr . com**

**Yeah. Just mush it all up together and you get my link. I'll always follow back, so that's nice. It's pretty much useless; I talk about random shit a lot on there, so if you're interested in that, go ahead! **

Rukia sat down and tilted her head towards Ichigo who responded back to her with a simple good morning.

Rukia withdrew in her lips and let them softly pucker back out as she began to eat her breakfast. Orihime was present as always, sitting next to Ichigo and eating quietly.

"Did you sleep pleasantly Orihime?" Rukia asked and Orihime looked up at Rukia and glared at her.

"It's been somewhat difficult." Orihime retorted and Rukia arched a brow.

"Are you not comfortable sleeping in your bed?" Rukia asked and a corner of Orihime's lips turned up.

"No, it's comfortable, but it's been difficult with Kurosaki-Sama always waking me up for more strenuous activities in the night time." Orihime responded and Rukia narrowed her eyes and looked at Ichigo who had his mouth slightly agape as he raised his orange brows.

"That's not true, I haven't asked to you to attend to me for a month now Orihime." Ichigo stated and the corners of Rukia's lips turned up as she pretended to use her nails to scratch at a nonexistent itch on her cheek so she could hide her snorts of laughter.

Orihime glared at Rukia and set down her bowl and utensils.

"That's not true Kurosaki-Sama, you asked for me last night!" Orihime lied and Rukia arched a brow and smirked.

"Now you're lying to us Orihime, he was with me last night filling out some official documents, and we slept in the same bed last night due to not wanting to change rooms." Rukia smiled and Orihime blushed and then quickly became furious. Orihime then gripped the tops of Ichigo's kimono and slammed her lips quickly on his making Ichigo drop his bowl and chopsticks as he returned Orihime's kiss. Rukia narrowed her eyes and stood up and walked out of the room.

Rukia stopped and turned and saw Ichigo scolding Orihime lightly while blushing and Orihime smirked and Rukia glared at her as she walked away.

Rukia walked until she hit her bedroom and closed the shoji doors behind her. She slid down to the floor, her back against the wall as she looked up at the ceiling. She quickly glanced down at her finger and saw a glittering gem on her finger and looked back at her own reflection in her vanity's mirror.

She didn't know how to explain it.

The rush in her throat, something in her began to sting and pick at itself.

Rukia drew her lips in a thin line as her heart was pounding, and she realized her heart started to sting.

-Later on-

Ichigo was in his office. He lightly scratched his head and ran his hair through somewhat damp orange locks. He had taken a shower not long ago, it was interesting though. He had come into the bedroom to realize that Rukia had been reapplying her make up and he poked at her shoulder making a crude comment on how she was a beauty queen.

She responded by glaring at him playfully and hitting him on his arm as he asked for a maid to prepare him a bath.

He heard his office door open and he wanted it to be Rukia with a smiling face and his usual afternoon tea, but he was surprised when Orihime walked in through the door. Orihime swayed her way over and Ichigo stared at her.

"Do you need something Orihime?" Ichigo asked and Orihime bit her lip and smiled at him.

"No, I just wanted to see you." Orihime said with a pout and Ichigo arched a brow as he picked up a document and began to look it over.

"Well, I'm kind of busy Orihime, maybe later we could go out and take a walk, or go to the districts to buy something." Ichigo stated as he signed his name and began on another official form and Orihime silently walked over to where he was and got on her knees and stared up at him. She leaned in, and amber orbs glazed themselves over to where Orihime was staring at him with gray eyes.

Orihime leaned up and captured his lips in a deep kiss and Ichigo widened his eyes as Orihime threw her arms around his neck.

Ichigo tried to grip her arms so he could push her away, but she ended up going on top of him. Ichigo was trapped and Orihime separated, her orange locks dipping low and brushing his face. Long nails started pulling on the front of his robes and they became loose.

She stared right at him and slowly smiled.

"Don't you want me Kurosaki-Sama?" Ichigo swallowed thickly as he turned his head away and looked away.

"Get off of me Orihime." Ichigo said quietly and Orihime widened her eyes and looked at him.

"What, you can't be serious!" Orihime shouted and Ichigo kept his gaze away as he looked at a painting of him and Rukia when they had just gotten married in his office.

"Get off of me Orihime; I'm not in the mood." Ichigo and Orihime looked up as the door was opened and saw Rukia carry in a tray with a tea pot and two tea cups. Rukia arched a brow and set down the tray on the desk as she poured the tea.

"I was unaware that Orihime was going to join us today Ichigo." Ichigo gently pushed on Orihime's midriff, making Orihime go off of him and Ichigo took the cup of fresh tea.

"She's not, please leave Orihime, this is official matters." Ichigo looked at Orihime who was standing and she fiercely glared at Rukia.

"I'm sure if Rukia can stay, I should be able to stay as well." Orihime glared at Rukia and Rukia looked at her and kept her lips in a thin line.

"This is important matters between _my_ husband and me Orihime; therefore, your presence isn't needed." Rukia retorted and Orihime glared at her.

"Fine then, whatever you say Rukia-Sama," Orihime spat with venom as she sweetly moved over to Ichigo and kissed him on the lips and smiled at him. "I'll see you later Kurosaki-Sama." And she floated out of the room, but not before turning to glare at Rukia before she shut the door. Rukia maneuvered her neck so she was facing Ichigo again and she arched a brow.

"You know, when we have tea time, we don't really talk about anything serious." Rukia pointed out as she took a sip of tea and Ichigo sighed as he ran a hand over his face.

"She's been acting out of the ordinary lately." Ichigo remarked and Rukia covered her mouth with a long sleeve as she smiled.

"I know you better than that Ichigo, there's another reason why you politely kicked her out." Rukia smiled softly and Ichigo looked at her with a smile.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rukia laughed softly and Ichigo smiled.

"You must really like spending time with me." Rukia responded as she looked at a painting she had painted him, it was Ichigo with Zangetsu, the shining moon their background.

"I always like tea time with you." Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other and smiled, Rukia then accidentally splashed hot tea over the front of her elaborate kimono. She yelped as the hot water seeped through the silk and began to burn her chest. Ichigo had rushed over and he bent down and took out a handkerchief and started dabbing away at her kimono.

Rukia sighed as he pulled out her kimono a little bit and Ichigo smiled.

"I'll just change into a new one later, it's just water Ichigo." Rukia commented and Ichigo wiped the water away from her skin and put away his handkerchief.

"I just wanted to wipe up the water, that's all." Ichigo responded and Rukia shook her head softly and smiled as she looked away. Her free hand lay on his desk, her palm facing up. Ichigo had slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it tightly as they sipped their tea together.

Rukia's slender fingers had curled around Ichigo's palm, her long nails slightly laid on his hand. She squeezed his hand as well.

They spent the rest of their tea in silent, but both of them smiled as they enjoyed the silence.

**Author's note: DON'T KILL ME FOR NOT UPDATING! D: I'm sorry! It's just, eh, I got lazy. So, I know this is kind of short, but I'm trying to get other stories done! Leave me alone! D: **

**I'm just an innocent fairy trying to write! Just kidding. **

**Anyways, I'm very sorry for not updating in so long, but I got some nice romance build up here! **

**Annoying tumblr alert: I have a tumblr now! So, link is above if you want to check out my page, or follow me, I write about pretty much random stuff, and yeah. If you follow me, I always follow back because I feel pretty bitchy if I don't. **

**So, I'd love to get to know you guys better anyways! The link is above if you want to check it out. **

**I'm going to go now! The next update is…I don't know when, so just keep on the look out for that! I love you guys. **

**Smack that review button for me and leave a review! I love reading them, mostly because I'm a glutton for them, and I love hearing what you guys have to say. So, leave me a review, check out my tumblr, I don't know. Have a great week you guys! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: So, in celebration of Ichigo's birthday, I will be updating on my Ichigo / Rukia stories. So, that's two stories I'll be updating on? I don't remember quite too well. **

**But, the only other Ichigo / Rukia story I have is **_**'Romance of Dance'. **_**So, go check it out since it is a new developing story. **

**I also just realized that this story had 300 reviews and I never even bothered to thank you guys for it! I'm so thankful you guys have been faithful to this story and have even bothered to stick around it and give me positive reviews. Even though I don't update a lot, I'm so blessed that you guys still stick around. You guys seriously give me the inspiration to update even though it's not a lot. **

**So, for never ever giving you guys anything in return for reviewing, I have something for you all. **

**Whoever gives me the 310****th**** review; I shall message them, and will be making a one shot for them that are an Ichigo / Rukia pairing. They get to choose the plot and everything for that little one shot. And I promise that it will be posted up about a week after I get the details. So, let's get going! **

**Annoying tumblr alert: I have a tumblr now! It doesn't really go into much about my fan fiction life, just my personal life, so if you want to get to know me better here it is. **

**The asian – soy milk rice . tumblr . com **

**It's long, deal with it! **

**Infertile Love: **

Rukia woke up and stretched her arms and winced at how sore she was. Opening her eyes, her indigo orbs rolled over to see Ichigo peacefully sleeping. Slipping out of bed, a warm breeze hit her bare body as she shrugged on a white yukata. She quietly rang for a servant to draw a bath for her. Rukia sat down at her vanity and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Drawing her hair in a messy bun she heard the maid quietly stated outside of the door that her bath was ready. Rukia gave a short reply and walked over to Ichigo who was still laying in bed and gently ran a few fingers through spiked orange hair before she turned on her heel and left.

An hour later:

Rukia sat down elegantly in a pastel blue kimono with purple and red flowers embroidered on there. Her hair was decorated with ornaments and her make up had been applied carefully.

Rukia tried not to wince at how sore she was and began to eat. Orihime eyed Rukia in suspicion when she saw Rukia fidgeting around a lot and her lips go thin together and release quickly.

"Are you alright Rukia-Sama?" Orihime asked with venom in her voice and Rukia snapped her eyes up to Orihime and harsh violet eyes glared at Orihime.

"I'm quite fine, thank you for asking." Rukia said calmly as she slowly finished up the remains of her soup. Orihime had looked at the open doors to see Ichigo walk in and sit down next to Rukia.

"Good morning _Rukia_." Ichigo purred and Rukia turned to face him and slightly dug her fingers in his shoulder and playfully pushed him away from her.

"Good morning Ichigo." Rukia said as she started to snicker and Ichigo began to eat as he playfully bumped his shoulder with Rukia's. Orihime watched the whole exchange and then moved closer to Ichigo and put her hands on his chest delicately. Ichigo stopped eating and looked down at Orihime.

"What is it Orihime?" Ichigo asked and Orihime looked up at him.

"Where were you last night?" Orihime asked as her fingers smoothly tried to push away the opening of his robes. Ichigo quirked an eyebrow at her and looked at Rukia who was taking a sip of tea, a sleeve falling down and Orihime looked at Rukia's arm and saw dark purple and blue bruises on her wrists.

"It was the full moon last night Orihime." Ichigo said as Orihime widened her eyes and Ichigo pushed Orihime's hand out of his robes. "I'm not in the mood today Orihime." Ichigo said gently and Orihime's eyes snapped back to his and she clenched her fists as she moved back to her proper seat and ate quietly, fuming in anger.

It was quiet until Ichigo swallowed a thick bunch of rice and looked at Rukia.

"Are you feeling better Rukia?" Ichigo asked and Rukia paused and then looked at Ichigo.

"Tell Kamen not to ambush me next time." Rukia stated as her and Ichigo smiled at each other and went back to eating with a smile on their faces.

"You mean, if there is a next time." Orihime broke in and Rukia looked up at Orihime and sighed.

"And what do you mean by that Orihime?" Rukia asked and Orihime propped a chin on her fist and smiled at Rukia.

"I'll be sure to attend to Ichigo _next_ time." Orihime stated with a smirk and Rukia scowled and then easily settled into a smirk.

"I don't think so Orihime, if you haven't noticed, Kamen doesn't really like you, at _all_." Rukia stated and Ichigo swallowed and blushed quickly and wiped it away.

"And how would you know that?" Orihime almost shouted and when Rukia smirked and stood up and brushed off the invisible dust off of her robes. She looked down at Orihime and smiled gently.

"Go ask Ichigo yourself. Besides, Kamen does remain inside of him, he talks to Ichigo all the time." Rukia said as she cupped a hand around Ichigo's shoulder and walked away quietly. Ichigo looked up to see Orihime shaking in anger.

"Is that true Ichigo?" Orihime shouted and Ichigo smiled nervously and looked away.

"Well, I mean, he's only used to Rukia treating him, so he doesn't really like it when newcomers try to contain him. He has said a couple of times that he doesn't like you." Ichigo said nervously as he rubbed a hand on his neck and smiled at her and then stood up.

"I'm going to my office now if you need me, bye!" Ichigo rushed off and Orihime gaped at him as she narrowed her eyes and rushed off in the opposite direction.

_-Flashback- _

_Rukia sighed as she looked in her mirror and began to wipe the white cream off of her face. All the makeup had been removed as well, as she was about to apply moisturizer and perfume, she felt herself being picked up. _

"_Queen, I'm back." Kamen sang in his taunting voice as he threw her over his shoulder and she made a slight sound. _

"_Kamen, you need to warn me that you're coming before you scare me!" Rukia huffed and yelped as she was thrown on the bed gently and Kamen stared at her with his golden eyes as he trapped her and looked down at her. _

"_I missed you Queen." Kamen said as he kissed her and ripped the hair ornaments out of her hair. "Ichigo's an idiot, I hate Orihime, don't _ever_ bring her back to me." _

_-Flashback end- _

Ichigo rushed to his office and saw Rukia reading some of the scrolls that had been sent to her and Ichigo stared at her.

"Rukia, that wasn't fair." Ichigo stated and Rukia set down her scroll and looked up at Ichigo.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Rukia quietly stated and Ichigo sat down in front of her.

"That doesn't mean you're supposed to tell her that Kamen _hates_ her." Ichigo responded and Rukia kept on reading her scroll.

"You know it's the truth, I'm just trying to help her before he kills her." Rukia reasoned Kamen was known for his rather _violent_ behavior if he didn't get his way.

"He's not that cruel." Rukia shot up an elegant brow and chuckled.

"We both know that's a lie. Remember a couple of years ago?" Rukia asked and Ichigo shuddered as he remembered the incident, the poor maid almost died that night if she hadn't screamed out for Rukia to save her.

_-Flashback- _

"_Kurosaki-Sama, save me please!" The maid screamed loudly as Kamen was gripping the maid's neck and shoving her against the wall, his grip tightening every second. _

"_Where's Rukia?" Kamen growled and the maid choked a bit and Rukia came in quietly and grasped Kamen's wrist and made him release the maid. _

"_I'm sorry about that, I have a doctor waiting outside for you, let me help you." Rukia calmly stated as the doctor came in and helped Rukia assist the unconscious maid and Rukia sighed as she shut the door and glared at Kamen. _

"_You can't go around killing girls." Rukia said as Kamen huffed angrily and sat down on the bed and glared at Rukia. _

"_Your fault Queen, I don't like other women besides you." Kamen grouched and Rukia grasped his chin and pressed her lips gently against his, released the kiss, and ruffled his hair. Kamen then grabbed her fiercely and pinned her down on the bed. _

"_You're going to pay for that." Kamen smirked as he slapped his lips onto hers. _

_-Flashback end- _

Ichigo looked at Rukia who was now writing a letter to her brother and sister.

"Well, it's not his fault; we are married, so he'll only naturally like you." Ichigo said quietly and Rukia sighed as she looked down at her letter to her brother and signed her name on it.

"Tomorrow's the banquet remember, I'm presuming you invited everybody for your birthday?" Rukia asked and Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, I had messengers go out this morning." Ichigo replied as Rukia stood up and walked in front of Ichigo and gently pulled both hands out and placed a large flat box on top of them. Ichigo's brow shot up at her.

"What's this?" Ichigo asked and Rukia smiled gently at him.

"I made it myself, its part of your birthday present." Ichigo then looked down at the box as he stripped away the fine silk ribbon and took the lid off the box to meet chocolate covered strawberries. Smiling he looked up at her.

"Really now, chocolate strawberries?" Ichigo asked and Rukia smirked as she leaned against the desk.

"They're your favorite treat aren't they? I made them all by myself." Rukia stated as Ichigo took a bite and relished the sweet taste. He always did like it when Rukia cooked him food, and he was sure that Orihime didn't know his favorite foods at the very least. Rukia then began to walk forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll let you enjoy those by yourself in peace and quiet." Rukia said and she was stopped when she felt Ichigo grab her wrist and pull her back.

"Feed these to me!" He whined and Rukia scoffed as she tried to pull away.

"You're a grown man, go eat them yourself!" Rukia exclaimed as she was shoved into Ichigo's lap and Ichigo held out a chocolate covered strawberry to her.

"Feed me, please, for my birthday?" Ichigo asked and Rukia sighed as she took the strawberry and held it up to open lips. Ichigo softly bit down on the strawberry with his lips and nibbled on it and Rukia smashed it in his face and laughed as he pouted and then smirked as he stuffed one in her mouth. Rukia then proceeded to feed him another strawberry as they laughed at each other, enjoying each other's company.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: Okay, I thought it was time to update this story, my inspiration? I wanted to tell you guys about a little flame I got sent straight to my e-mail. **

**About a week ago, I got in my e-mail when I came home I got a review for this story, and it sincerely puzzled me since I haven't updated in a long time. **

**From: Collateral damage ()**

"**this story sucks" **

**Now, I know all of my lovely supporters are probably going to bash on him/her so hard, but don't. Here's how I see it. This Collateral damage () persona was too much of a chicken to sign on his/her own account to send me a flame. If you really hated my story so much, it's okay to tell me in person, what's the worst thing I could do? Chop off your head and spam your PM box with messages saying you're stupid and you don't understand anything. Also, if you're going to send me a flame, actually use the write capitalization and punctuation. Here, this sentence shows no sign of proper capitalization and punctuation. Please let me believe that you are a teenager/adult and not a second grader that just learned writing. **

**Let me just get this straight Mr. /Mrs. **_**Collateral damage (),**_** first, who really puts their anon name as that? What's up with the little '()' insignia? Now, I'm going to get my point straight across, if you want to send me a flame, don't expect me to go bat shit crazy over it. You have your opinions, and I have mine. But don't worry; I'm sure I have my beautiful/lovely followers that outweigh your opinion by a couple hundred. Next time, if you send me a flame, go on your own real account, and next time, send me a reason why, otherwise, your point seems invalid since you have no actual evidence to support your claim. Thank you, have a nice day. **

**Sorry about that you guys, I thought you guys deserved a little humor/a little insight on why I decided to update now out of the blue. I know you guys really deserve an update and I have a bit of free time, so why not? **

**Thank all of my supporters! **

**Also: Remember when I said the 310****th**** reviewer gets a free one shot as a reward? Well, the winner was one of my reviewers: **

_**RukiaKuchikiFan**_** – Thank you for ALWAYS reviewing and you'll get a one shot from me. You message me on what you want to happen and stuff in the one shot, I'll produce it and it'll be dedicated to you. So please claim your reward! **

**Fake advertising: I just released an IchiRuki story called 'When Five Fell' it's not really explaining the depth of Ichigo's and Rukia's relationship in the story, but how five guys fall in love with Rukia. **

**Then there's 'Romance of Dance' I need to update on, so keep a look out on that. **

**Infertile Love**

**Chapter 13: **

"Third daughter!" A jubilant voice screeched as Rukia was rammed into a hard chest with tight arms wrapped around her. "I've missed you so!" The voice screamed again in excitement and Rukia evened her breathing.

"It's nice to see you too _Shuuto_*." Rukia breathed out as she tried to detangle herself from Ichigo's father – Isshin Kurosaki.

A groan escaped Ichigo's lips as he rubbed his head and grabbed the back of Isshin's kimono and reeled him away from Rukia.

"Could you _not_ be crazy for at least one visit Dad?" Ichigo asked as Isshin let out a fake sob of sadness.

"Why don't you love me?" Isshin wailed and Ichigo punched him harshly and Isshin stumbled away.

"Oh shut up!" Ichigo growled and Isshin kept on fake crying and Ichigo turned on his heel and smiled warmly at the two girls standing in front of him. They smiled back at him and ran to him.

"Ichi-nii!" The two girls shouted in excitement as they rammed him into a hug as well and Ichigo wrapped his arms around his two favorite girls.

"Hey there Karin, Yuzu." Ichigo kindly greeted his sisters and they released each other.

"It's been so long!" Yuzu chirped and Ichigo scratched the back of his head and smiled.

"Well you guys live kind of far away back at home so it's hard for us to see each other." Ichigo responded and Rukia came up next to Ichigo and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We should all sit down while I get the tea." Rukia gestured and Yuzu hugged Rukia.

"I've missed you Rukia!" Yuzu said and Rukia smiled and wrapped her arms around Yuzu as well.

"I've missed you too, come here Karin." Rukia said as Karin walked over and gave Rukia a hug as well and they released each other.

"Oh yeah, we should sit down for tea." Ichigo said as everybody followed suit and situated themselves at the table while Rukia went into the kitchen.

10 minutes later-

Rukia poured another cup of tea for Ichigo and herself as they snacked on a couple of sweets on a plate.

"How have you been my son?" Isshin asked and Ichigo shrugged as he nibbled on a chocolate oriented sweet and he swallowed it.

"Things have been okay, it's been pretty hectic around here." Ichigo responded truthfully and took a sip of his piping hot tea.

"Oh really? How about grandchildren? You know I want tons of them!" Isshin brought up and Ichigo looked at Rukia who suddenly looked at the garden and took a quiet sip of her tea. Ichigo hesitantly dragged amber orbs to his father.

"We've been too busy for that Dad." Ichigo said uneasily and Isshin arched a brow and smirked.

"But how? She should've been producing grandbabies for me by now! I mean every full moon she should be getting pregnant!" And Isshin widened his eyes as he pouted, "You're not working hard enough my son to get my third daughter pregnant!" He screeched as he jokingly fainted and Rukia curled her fingers into her sleeves.

"Don't worry _Shuuto_, when it is meant to happen, it'll happen. I assure you that Ichigo isn't doing anything wrong." Rukia responded gently and Isshin leaped up and rushed over to Rukia's side and grabbed her soft pale hands.

"You're such a perfect wife my third daughter!" Isshin said as he rubbed his cheek on her hands and stared at her, "I can't believe my idiot of a son got to be with a lady of perfection! And if you said that he's not doing anything wrong," Isshin's eyes shined with a sharp gleam, "That means you two have been getting busy! Oh the joys!" Isshin cried and Rukia gently took her hands away from his.

"I didn't mean anything by that statement _Shuuto_, you shouldn't make assumptions." Rukia responded with a soft smile as she took a sip of her tea and Isshin put a finger on his chin and nodded.

"You're right third daughter! See this is why-." Isshin was cut off when a girlish voice was heard.

"_Ichigo _where are you?" the sugary voice sung and Ichigo widened his eyes.

'_Oh shit, oh no, oh god, I haven't told them yet – shit! I'm screwed now!' _Ichigo thought as long orange hair came into view and Orihime walked in and smiled at Ichigo.

"There you are! I was wondering where you were!" Orihime said in a loving voice as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Ichigo looked down away from his sisters as Isshin's jaw dropped, Yuzu and Karin had widened their eyes, and Rukia sipped her tea calmly.

Silence enveloped the area and Orihime looked around and widened her gray eyes.

"Oh, Ichigo, you didn't tell me you had guests! Who are they?" Orihime asked and Ichigo was still looking down.

"Orihime this is my family," Ichigo paused and swallowed the lump in his throat, "Guys, this is my concubine, Orihime Inoue." Ichigo nervously told them and he saw Isshin's jaw snap back up and he smiled at Orihime.

"Why hello there Ms. Inoue, it's nice to meet you." Isshin greeted kindly and Orihime giggled as she shifted into a comfortable kneeling position.

"It's nice to meet you too! And who are these lovely girls?" Orihime asked and Ichigo gestured lamely.

"These are my sisters, Yuzu and Karin." Yuzu and Karin waved meekly as they took a large gulp of their tea and stared wildly at Ichigo.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Inoue." Both said in a monotone voice as they looked at Rukia who was pouring everybody more tea with a calm stature.

"So, when did Ms. Inoue become part of the household son?" Isshin asked and Ichigo hesitated and Rukia smiled at Isshin.

"She came in a few months ago per Ichigo's request." Rukia answered as she bit her tongue to keep from saying something improper. Isshin arched a brow at Ichigo and sent him a sharp look.

"And why is that third daughter? I thought you were enough to handle my son and his _manly_ urges!" Isshin asked and Rukia shot a glance at Orihime who was now scowling at what Isshin had said about Rukia being his daughter.

"Well _Shuuto_, Ichigo said he wanted children and I wasn't able to fulfill that role for quite some time now as you can see, so he wanted Orihime to give him a child and they haven't been successful yet either." Rukia responded again and Ichigo shot a glance at Rukia and Rukia looked at the almost empty plate.

"Is that so third daughter?" Isshin asked and Rukia smiled as she refilled his tea cup.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be getting more snacks for you all." Rukia said as she got up gracefully and grabbed the plate and gently swayed into the kitchen. All eyes followed Rukia and as soon as she disappeared they all snapped back to Ichigo.

Silence enveloped and Orihime looked around in confusion as she clutched onto Ichigo tighter.

"Should I leave?" Orihime asked and Ichigo hesitantly smiled and unclasped her hands away from his neck.

"I think it would be best." Ichigo said and Orihime kissed him on the lips leaving Ichigo stunned before she got up and bowed to Isshin.

"It was nice meeting you," She paused and smiled, "_Shuuto._" Hoping Isshin would like her if he called her that and Isshin arched a brow as he took a sip of his tea and didn't look at her anymore.

"I don't think you should call me that, you're not my daughter, you're just my son's concubine. You're not his wife." Isshin said and Orihime widened her eyes as she glared fiercely at Isshin and looked at Ichigo.

"I'll be waiting for you." Orihime snapped and Ichigo saw her leave and stared at his father.

"Dad, what the hell was that all about?" Ichigo asked and Isshin looked up from his teacup and looked at Ichigo.

"She's not my daughter; I just told her the truth. There's nothing wrong with that." Isshin said and Ichigo stared in disbelief at his father.

"But that's rude, she's my concubine." Ichigo responded franticly and Isshin put down his teacup and stared at Ichigo.

"How could you do that to Rukia? Did you even realize that bringing Orihime in you hurt Rukia?" Isshin said and Ichigo exhaled sharply, he was annoyed.

"She wasn't even angry that I brought her in!" Ichigo snapped and Isshin glared at Ichigo.

"I support you son, but she's in love with you, but she's the perfect wife, of course she's going to act like she's not hurt." Isshin said and Ichigo widened his eyes.

"Dad, she doesn't love me, it's always been an arranged marriage!" Ichigo responded and Isshin took a sip of his tea and waved his hand a little.

"You're obviously blind then, but it's fine, you do whatever you want to do." Isshin said and they heard Rukia's footsteps step closer to them and she set down the plate of sweets.

"Is everything alright _Shuuto_, Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin?" Rukia asked seeing everybody's discomfort and Isshin pasted a bright smile on his face again.

"Of course everything is now that you're here third daughter! Speaking of which, we brought presents!" Isshin screeched as he signaled a servant to fetch them and Rukia sat down again and looked at Ichigo.

Ichigo looked at Rukia and then turned away from her gaze.

Rukia arched a thin black brow and stared at Ichigo while pretending to listen to Isshin.

Something wasn't right, and Rukia wanted to figure out what was going on – quickly.

'_Are you alright Ichigo?' _Rukia pondered as she poured Ichigo another cup of tea and turned her lips into a pretty smile as Isshin began placing numerous items on the table and babbled excitingly about them.

**Author's note: What was Ichigo thinking about? Sorry for not updating, I decided to squeeze this in so thanks for reading! I know all of you are excited – not, I'm horrible, I know. So what do you think about this chapter? **

***Shuuto: It means father in law, if it's not right, please TELL me the right word to use =) thanks! **

**Please drop a review in the box, favorite, subscribe to my story, or whatever. I hope to see you guys again soon! **


	14. This is a Filler just letting you know

**Author's note: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time. You know, school, more school, mixed with drama, some more school. Yeah. No time for a social life anymore, but that's cool too. Anyways, let's get this chapter going. **

**Unfortunately – this HAS to be a filler chapter, because I can't really think of anything, so sorry if I disappointed you with my weird filler chapter. **

**In this filler chapter: OOC – drugs, alcohol, nicotine. **

**Filler Chapter **

**Acceptance**

Taking in a long drag, she pulled the half used cigarette out of her mouth and let a long wispy puff of smoke out as she closed her eyes.

"That stuff is going to kill you." He said right besides her, he had been quiet, plus, when did he get up there? How long was he watching her waste her life away?

"You mean that stupid typical lung cancer bullshit?" She responded as she put the cigarette back in her mouth and sucked.

"We're still on school grounds." He said as he leaned against the fence wall, with his arms crossed over his chest as he sipped quietly on his juice box. She chuckled darkly as she took out her cigarette and leaned her hand against her jeaned thigh.

"I've been doing this for the past couple of months. They haven't noticed, or they don't care." She said as she blew some smoke out of her mouth. Her purple eyes turned her gaze from the open, blue, and sunny skies of Karakura to the boy standing next to her. Her eyes raked him up and down, and she recognized him.

"What about your friends? I'm sure they care about you smoking and sucking your health away." He said as he waved away some smoke.

"They do it too, we just avoid going to the same place. Besides, why does the new kid care about what little old me does up here?" Taking out her cigarette and realizing it was gone; she tapped the ashes on her leg, dropped the cigarette on the floor, and stepped on it with the black flat shoe.

"It's my first day, so I have no friends remember? Except for Renji, since I've known him from when we were little." Raking a hand through his spiky orange hair, she smirked as the bell rang. She picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder and looked at the teenager who had stood with her the whole time during lunch.

"Come on new kid, we've got class to go to." She stated and he arched a thin orange brow.

"You're seriously going to go to class smelling like nicotine?" He asked and she chuckled bitterly.

"Of course not, I'm not stupid, anyone can tell at this school if you just took drugs, drank alcohol, or smoked. That's why I carry gum and perfume." Taking out a piece of fruity gum and spraying her neck and wrists with a special perfume, which he swore smelled like cherry blossoms and vanilla – she opened the door and gestured for him to go through it. He went in and put his hands in his pockets as he walked down the stairs.

"Hey new kid, what's your name?" She asked as she followed after him and he stopped and leaned against the stair rail and he smirked a little.

"Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki, what's yours?" He asked and she smiled at him.

"Rukia, just plain Rukia." She responded and he arched a brow again.

"No last name?" She adjusted her leather jacket and brought out her compact mirror to check her make up.

"That's something you don't need to know about. Irrelevant." Rukia said as she walked down the stairs past him. He looked at her figure and kept on walking after her.

-Next lunch-

Ichigo sat down at lunch in the cafeteria, a little surprised that he saw Rukia sitting down with her friends, laughing, and not smoking on the open roof of the school. Pulling his phone out of his blue jeans, he saw the missed call from his mother and pocketed the phone.

"Hey Ichigo, who are you staring at?" A guy named Keigo, that Ichigo met yesterday, who had almost peed in his pants when he saw Ichigo, but Keigo's friend Mizuiro talked to Ichigo and made him sit at lunch with them.

"No one." Ichigo replied bluntly as Mizuiro and his three other friends, Chad, Orihime, and Tatsuki greeted Ichigo as they sat down as well.

"Could it be you were staring at Rukia, the totally _sexy_ smoker chick in our class?" Keigo screeched and Ichigo closed his eyes as he opened his lunch.

"Pft no, besides, does everybody know she smokes?" Ichigo asked, wondering why the, well, he had to agree with Keigo, she was attractive, but he was wondering why Rukia let it well known she smoked.

"Of course, she's popular too, so her secret got out, but nobody really cares, but people found out after her whole group of friends she's sitting with over there are known for drinking, doing drugs, and smoking." Mizuiro cut in as he texted someone on his phone. Ichigo looked over there and saw people who did dress similarly to Rukia sitting with her, they were laughing.

"Who's she sitting with?" Ichigo asked and Keigo took a bite out of his sandwich. Through a mouthful of food he pointed to the table.

"That one kid, you see him there? That's Toshirou Hitsugaya," Ichigo looked over and saw Toshirou Hitsugaya had spiked white hair and he was currently sipping a bottle of iced tea as he put his arm around a girl with brown hair. "The girl he just put his arm around is his girlfriend, Momo Hinamori; they've been going out for about three years already." Keigo said and pointed to a long blonde haired girl.

"That's Rangiku Matsumoto, she's a total _babe. _She's going out with Hisagi Shuuhei, and if you see her at a party, she's most likely drinking away, she's the life of a party." Keigo described and Ichigo nodded as he kept in pace with him. "Hisagi Shuuhei, the kid that has blacked spiked hair and a 69 tattoo all over his head. He looks mean, but he's actually pretty nice." Ichigo saw Hisagi and what he remembered to be Matsumoto share a tender kiss as she rested her head on his shoulder and ate along with him.

Keigo pointed to a bald headed teen and a man with cropped shoulder length hair with – was that feathers attached to his eyes?

"That's Ikkaku and Yumichika, Ikkaku is _super_ mean, and Yumichika, well, we think he's just downright gay, but who knows." Keigo stated and smiled, "That's it! Since you know Renji that's all there is to that particular table. Don't mess with any of them, they look nice, but they're a pretty tough gang. It's almost impossible to date any of them unless your part of their group. Except for Renji, he's dating Tatsuki over here." Keigo pointed a thumb to Tatsuki who growled at him.

"Oh shut up Keigo, don't go blurting my love life to anybody!" Tatsuki shouted and Keigo started fake crying about how mean she was being to him. Ichigo looked over and saw Rukia laughing and looked around the lunch room with her purple eyes before catching Ichigo's gaze, and he saw her lips that had a somewhat darker shade of lavender on it curve up into a smile at him.

-Meanwhile-

"Rukia, are you looking at someone?" Rangiku asked and Rukia turned her attention back to Matsumoto.

"Of course not, just looking around the room, inspecting, that's all." Rukia said as she picked up another piece of sushi from her lunch. Rukia ate carefully to not smudge her purple lipstick.

"You don't inspect the room at all, could it be perhaps you were looking at that new boy? I don't blame you honey, he's _cute._" Rangiku stated and Hisagi gave her a cold glare.

"Remember you're _my_ girl." Hisagi stated and Rangiku kissed him on the cheek.

"Of course I am, but I'm allowed to look aren't I?" He mumbled a curse before going back to eat his burger and Rukia rolled her eyes with a slight smirk on her face.

"His name is Ichigo, and _no_ I was not staring." Rukia stated before she heard a loud whimper come from the middle of the room, and slamming of food trays.

Everybody looked over and saw the poor freshmen everybody knew named Hanataro* - he was a boy who got picked on at least 3 times a week.

"Give us your lunch money!" A guy with bleached blonde hair with several earrings ringing up his ear growled at Hanataro.

After thorough harassment, the bullies decided to leave.

"Whatever, pathetic freshmen, take all of the money you could find and let's go." The bully said as they walked off and dropped Hanataro and everybody went back to their own business ignoring him. Hanataro sniffled as he began packing away his stuff in his bag before he saw a petite hand, hand him the last of his notebooks. He looked up and smiled.

"Oh why, hello there Rukia." Hanataro said gently and Rukia smiled at him and held out her hand.

"Come on; let's get you off of that floor. It's the third time this week Hanataro." Rukia said and Hanataro laughed nervously.

"I can't help it, I'm pretty weak." Hanataro replied, looking a little sad and Rukia put some money in his hand.

"Go get lunch." Rukia said gently and turned on her heel.

"I can't accept this Rukia!" Hanataro stammered and Rukia turned back and smiled at him.

"It's alright; someone needs to look out for you once in a while." Rukia said as she walked back to her table and sat down and Momo nibbled on her watermelon piece.

"You always come to that kid's rescue." Momo said through a mouthful of the juicy fruit and Rukia packed up her stuff and made sure her lighter was in her pocket.

"He's just a little kid, besides; Isane isn't here today to protect him. Well I'm going to go, I need to smoke. See you guys later in class." Rukia said and her friends said a quick goodbye to her as she hooked her bag over her shoulder and opened her cigarette packet as she walked her path to the roof.

-Meanwhile-

Ichigo saw Rukia leave the lunchroom out of the corner of his eye and realized he was done eating his lunch. He quickly disposed of his trash and got up. Making everybody he was sitting with look up.

"Where are you going Ichigo?" Orihime asked as she bit into what seemed to be a red bean and fish paste sandwich. Ichigo looked at them and chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, erm, I forgot something in my…" Well what was he going to say? He wanted to talk to Rukia some more, because in all honesty, she intrigued him, "My class, yeah, my class, see you guys later!" He exclaimed as he waved goodbye to them and they all shooed him off to leave.

Ichigo looked behind him and saw no one was following him. He followed up the same path he took yesterday and saw Rukia humming as she walked up the stairs to the roof and pushed open the door. He quietly rushed after her and managed to catch the door as it was closing and slipped through.

He saw Rukia place herself against the same fence as yesterday and light up her cigarette again and she took a small inhale before looking at Ichigo.

"Now you're stalking me Ichigo?" Rukia asked and Ichigo leaned against the same fence in the same spot as yesterday.

"No. I just wonder why you smoke, that's all. You're young; you shouldn't be smoking away your life." He saw Rukia release a large puff of smoke as she rested the hand she held her cigarette in on her thigh. He traveled his eyes down to her thigh and saw her pale, and milky white hand contrasted brightly against dark black skinny jeans.

"There's a good reason as to why I smoke." Rukia said as she brought the cancer inducing cigarette back to her lips and sucked.

"Like I said, you're going to get cancer if you keep on smoking." Ichigo stated and Rukia withdrew her cigarette and looked up at him and smirked as she turned back and closed her eyes.

"I already do have cancer." Ichigo went wide eyed and looked at her and his hand twitched to reach for the cigarette.

"Then _what_ are you doing smoking then you dumbass?" He asked, he didn't know why he cared so much, but he _did_. Rukia smirked and looked up at him with her stunning and bright violet eyes.

"Calm down. I have cancer, but it's the cancer of loneliness as I'd like to call it." Rukia chuckled as she saw Ichigo calm down and even his breathing. He looked at her and tried not to pinch his nose from the horrid smoke. Secondhand smoking kills.

"You have friends, and family, you're not lonely. So why do you say loneliness is cancer?" Ichigo asked and Rukia looked up at the sky and took in another puff.

She opened her mouth and let out a wispy smoke.

"That's where you're mistaken. I don't have a family." Rukia said carelessly which made Ichigo look at her and widen his eyes.

"Y-you're a foster kid?" Ichigo asked and Rukia looked at him and raised her cigarette at him and smirked.

"I was abandoned when I was a little child. I mean, the house is nice, but I have no one to call family there." Rukia said and Ichigo looked away.

"I'm sorry." He apologized and Rukia looked at him and looked down at the ground as she smoked.

"Don't be, I've gotten use to no one wanting me. Anyways, didn't you want to know why I called loneliness a cancer?" Rukia said as she realized her cigarette was halfway done and she frowned a little.

"Yeah, I did." Ichigo said and Rukia smiled as she tapped her cigarette a little to get rid of the used parts of her cigarette.

"Well-." She was cut off as the bell rang and she dropped her cigarette and smashed it with her shoe. Popping in her mandatory gum and spraying perfume she got off the fence.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you. Let's get going Kurosaki. Wouldn't want to be late for P.E." Rukia said as she swung open the door and Ichigo stuck his hands in his jeans and followed after her again.

-P.E. class-

Ichigo stretched his arms and legs, he was now dressed in the P.E. uniform of a blue cotton t-shirt and loose shorts with tennis shoes. He sat with Keigo, Orihime, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, and Chad.

"Alright, today we're going to go run, girls go first. Girls, line up." Ichigo looked over and saw Rukia in a red cotton shirt and the same loose shorts as she tied her hair up in a messy ponytail and stretched her legs. Her friends followed suit talked to each other as they stretched with her. The P.E. teacher or Kenpachi Zaraki blew his whistle and Ichigo examined the girls running. Rukia was one of faster girls and already in a minute began on her second lap.

Ichigo arched his brows in amazement – shouldn't smokers be kind of slow while running?

"She runs really fast for a smoker." Ichigo said to himself, but apparently he was heard by Rukia's guy friends as they sat in front of Ichigo.

"She works out, by the way, aren't you that Ichigo kid?" Hisagi asked and Ichigo looked down and saw Renji, Hisagi, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku, and Yumichika looking up at Ichigo.

"Of course it's him Shuuhei, you were talking about Rukia right Ichigo?" Renji asked and Ichigo nodded slowly and hesitantly. Renji looked back at Rukia and saw she was on her third lap already.

"Don't worry; even though Rukia smokes everyday, she tries to keep herself healthy otherwise." Renji stated and Ichigo nodded as Mizuiro started talking to Ichigo about something in class.

-Meanwhile-

Rukia huffed as she finished the last of her mile and Kenpachi patted her on the back.

"Nice job Kuchiki, go get some water. HURRY UP ladies!" Kenpachi barked and Rukia walked over and collapsed on Renji, Shuuhei, and Hitsugaya as she drank her water, making the guys bark at her to get off.

"Oh stop being such a girl; it's a little bit of sweat." Rukia said as she got up and sat in between Renji and Hisagi and turned her head and saw Ichigo. She turned around and rested her elbows on Ichigo and smiled as she tilted her head.

"Surprised someone like _me_ could run really fast?" Rukia and Ichigo clucked his tongue and rolled his eyes as he looked away.

"Pft, no, I wasn't surprised at all Kuchiki, stop being so conceited." Ichigo joked and Rukia rolled her eyes and smirked as she turned back around.

-Next lunch-

"You never answered my question." It was sunny and Ichigo and Rukia stood in the shade this time to avoid the sun's harsh glares.

"About my cancer?" Rukia asked as she held up the lighter to the cigarette in her mouth and lit it up and started smoking.

"Yeah, your cancer or whatever." Ichigo said as he looked at her and Rukia took the cigarette out of her mouth and leaned her elbows against a ledge and looked down at her feet.

"Loneliness, the only reason why I consider it my cancer is because – well, when you feel lonely. It makes you feel sick. You feel helpless and you feel like you can't do anything. Like cancer, loneliness spreads in every source of your body and drips in your bones and infects you like nothing else. This made me turn to nicotine. It doesn't make me feel so lonely anymore, but afterwards, when the nicotine dies down during the day, I feel lonely again." Rukia said and Ichigo looked down and sighed and put his hands in his pockets.

"You have your friends, you shouldn't feel lonely." Ichigo said and Rukia sighed as she put the cigarette back in her mouth and let it rest there. Not sucking in any of the addictive nicotine.

"My god, I love my friends, they've been there with me since forever, but, as much as I love them, they're not my real family. I just want a family where I can go home everyday and they'll greet me and we'll laugh together and share special memories." Rukia said her mood dampening as she dropped her cigarette and Ichigo and looked at Rukia as she mashed the barely started cigarette.

"You're not going to finish smoking?" Ichigo asked and Rukia looked up and smiled at him.

"Nah, I don't feel like it today. So, how about we just hang out here for the rest of the lunch period?" Rukia asked and Ichigo looked away and smiled softly.

"Yeah, we can." Ichigo said as both slid down the wall and sat down on the roof and talked for the rest of the lunch period.

-Later that day-

"Okay, no offense, but do all of your friends do drink, smoke, or do drugs?" Ichigo asked quietly as him and Rukia were working together on a science lab and Rukia added a drop of the solution to the dead frog's insides.

"Except for Renji, and Momo, yeah, they do. You see Hitsugaya over there?" Rukia asked and Ichigo arched a brow.

"You mean the smart ass that always gets the highest marks in our classes?" Ichigo asked and Rukia smacked him on the shoulder.

"Don't say that! But yes, the only reason why he's so relaxed, even when he's stressed out with being valedictorian and class president is because he does pot at least once a month." Ichigo looked over and saw the now newly informed pot smoker valedictorian who was working on dissecting another species with his girlfriend.

"Does his girlfriend do drugs?" Ichigo asked as he read the instructions and cut open the stomach to expose the content. They both examined and wrote down the answer to the question linked to the stomach and continued on dissecting.

"No, she's actually one of the good kids, and so is Renji, he just drinks a little sometimes. Now, let's see, you know Hisagi?" Rukia asked as Ichigo handed over the tweezers to pick up the fat in the frog.

"Yeah, I do." Ichigo said and Rukia sliced off a piece of the fat and put it on the lens to examine the cells. Rukia bumped her hip into Ichigo's to make him look through the microscope.

"He does marijuana mostly, but a little meth sometimes." Rukia said as she looked at Ichigo, "I feel bad for the poor frog." Rukia said as Ichigo wrote down his observation on both his and Rukia's paper.

"Well at least it's being useful in science. Anyways, what about that girl he's going out with? Rangiku I think her name is." Ichigo said and Rukia chuckled and smiled.

"She just drinks, she's not really into that drug stuff, but she loves alcohol." Rukia said as Ichigo poked the heart of the frog and it leaked a little of the acid used to preserve the frog in.

"What about Ikkaku and Yumichika? To be honest, I don't think they do drugs." Ichigo said and Rukia 'hmphed' a little.

"That's where you're wrong. Ikkaku doesn't really do drugs, but he does do a little sometimes and he's a huge drinker. Yumichika only drinks, saying that doing drugs is 'ugly' because Yumichika likes being beautiful." Rukia said and Ichigo snorted in laughter while trying to keep quiet about it.

"I've never seen a guy who tries so hard to be beautiful." Ichigo said and Rukia nudged her shoulder into Ichigo's and reached over Ichigo's arm to get the solution.

"Me neither, but he's great with fashion advice. Go give up our papers to Mr. Kurosutchi, I'll throw away Mr. Froggy." Rukia said and Ichigo stapled the papers together and grabbed the solution and tool kit, after it had been washed and gave it to their almost crazy looking science teacher and went back to his lab station.

"Anyways new kid, since you need to meet people and make new friends, me and my friends are going out for ice cream today afterschool, you want to come?" Rukia asked and Ichigo arched a brow.

"Won't your friends get the wrong assumption if I went with you?" Ichigo asked and Rukia rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Whatever, you want to go or not?" Rukia asked and Ichigo checked his phone for any missed messages and tried to remember if he had anything to do after school.

"Yeah, I'll go with you." Ichigo said and Rukia smiled.

-Ice Cream shop-

"One strawberry ice cream please." Ichigo said as the man gave him a scoop of the strawberry ice cream on a waffle cone and Ichigo handed over the amount of yen needed and Rukia waved him over.

"Oh Rukia, I can't believe you invited the new guy, something tells me you have a _crush_ on him." Rangiku said as she fed her orange sherbet ice cream to Hisagi as he clamped his lips around the spoon and took it off the spoon. Rukia rolled her eyes and smiled as she took a lick of her mint chip ice cream.

"I do not; he just needs some friends you know?" Rukia said and Momo fluttered her eyelashes at Rukia in a mocking way and smirked as she offered Hitsugaya some of her chocolate ice cream which Hitsugaya pushed away.

"Whatever you say Rukia, guys be quiet he's coming over with Renji and Tatsuki!" Momo said as everybody changed to a different topic and Rukia patted the seat next to her and Ichigo slid in eating his strawberry ice cream.

"You got strawberry?" Rukia asked and Ichigo stopped eating it and looked at her.

"Yes? What's wrong about that?" Ichigo asked and Rukia snorted as she began to laugh and Ichigo then scowled in realization as he looked at his ice cream.

"Haha," Ichigo said in a monotone voice, "Very funny, now stop laughing." Ichigo said as his tongue went to go lick in the ice cream, but he stopped himself when Rukia kept on laughing. He turned to face her and furrowed his brows.

"I-I'm," Rukia burst into a fit of giggles at her own joke and Ichigo rolled his eyes, "I-I'm sorry, it's ironic." Rukia said as she wiped away a tear and went to go eat her own ice cream.

"My name means one who protects dumbass. Just remember that." Rukia smiled as she gave him a thumb up.

"Okay then, I'll remember that, _Strawberry_." Rukia teased and Ichigo glared at her before finishing up his ice cream.

-Several Months later-

-Lunch-

"You're not smoking today." Ichigo noted and Rukia rolled her eyes as she fixed her make up, which was just her regular winged eyeliner with a little eye shadow.

"I don't need it." Rukia replied nonchalantly and Ichigo arched a brow as he opened up his lunch to find fried noodles.

"You haven't gone out smoking for the past month. Aren't smokers supposed to be addicted or whatever?" Ichigo asked and Rukia stopped reapplying her eyeliner and smiled a little.

"I haven't been feeling depressed lately. That's all." Rukia went back to reshaping her eyeliner and smudged it a little. Ichigo examined her petite form, dressed in a white v – neck and blue denim skinny jeans, with her signature leather jacket.

"I guess so." Ichigo replied as he smiled as Rukia took the chopsticks out of his hand and took some of his noodles as he yelled at her.

-A week later-

Ichigo got out of his car and sighed as he rolled his shoulders, maybe he shouldn't have done all of that wrestling around with Rukia the other day, but he couldn't help it. She started it first, and he was determined to win their little "wrestling" match which started from her attacking him at Rangiku's house.

"Ichigo, quick!" Rukia shouted as Ichigo looked up and saw Rukia; her hair was messed up from running frantically.

"What is it midget?" Ichigo asked as he thumbed through his messages on his phone and Rukia panted as she put her hands on her knees.

"Those guys over there have been following me since I've been walking, pretend you're my boyfriend!" Rukia squeaked as she pushed Ichigo to lean up against the hood of his black car and she leaned her back against him as she relaxed and put Ichigo's arms around her waist.

Ichigo blushed at the movement but hid it very quickly.

"Why do I have to be your boyfriend? Why not Renji?" Ichigo droned and Rukia rolled her eyes as she brought out her phone.

"Because everybody knows that I and Renji couldn't be together. It's just so weird. Plus, don't you remember dimwit, he's dating Tatsuki." Rukia mocked as she told Ichigo to be quiet quickly as the group of guys came up to her.

"Couldn't help but notice you were running from us." The guys snickered and Rukia looked up disinterested.

"I was running to get to my boyfriend, don't be so conceited." Rukia tried to dismiss them and they looked up at Ichigo.

"A punk with orange hair? Please honey; you could do so much better, how about you get with me?" Rukia put her hand on Ichigo's and smirked.

"Yes, but he's _my_ punk with orange hair, so I'm going to have to decline your offer." Ichigo blushed a little on the inside but still kept his stern face at the guys who were trying to pick up Rukia. Sure, he was a little, might he even say jealous, but why should he care? It's not like he _liked_ Rukia. Thinking of her in that way might have been a little extreme, so why did he feel weird when she had put her hand on his?

"Your boyfriend hasn't said anything to defend you; don't you think you should leave him?" The guy asked as he flashed a smirk, showing off two gold teeth which made Rukia cringe on the inside. Rukia opened her mouth and was about to say something until…

"I'd appreciate it if you would leave my girlfriend alone." Ichigo said calmly and Rukia looked up at him in surprise and the guy arched a brow as he whipped off his sunglasses.

"Oh yeah? And what are _you_ going to do about it?" Ichigo smirked at the question and unwound his hands from Rukia.

"This." Ichigo smirked and punched the man square in the jaw and kicked him in the crotch. "Unless you want more of a beating, I suggest you leave." Ichigo taunted as the man put back on his sunglasses and screamed to leave the place immediately.

Ichigo turned on his heel and saw Rukia with her arms across her chest.

"I didn't know you had it in you Strawberry." Rukia smirked as Ichigo tilted his chin a little to gesture for them to go to class and meet up with their friends.

"At my old school, I used to get into fights all the time. So it's not that big of a deal for me." Ichigo said as Rukia shifted her bag on her shoulder and looped her arm around Ichigo's and tilted up and gave him a kiss on the cheek as they were walking.

"Fair enough, thanks dumbass." Rukia said as Ichigo smiled a little on the inside.

"Yeah, anytime midget." The next sound heard was a loud screech of pain as Ichigo rubbed his bruised shin and glared at Rukia. And laughter was heard as they walked onto campus.

-At lunch-

"I'm having a party at my house tomorrow! You all are invited." Rangiku bubbled as she munched on her salad and Rukia nudged her shoulder into Ichigo's.

"Are you going to Rangiku's party?" Rukia asked as Ichigo took a bite of his barbecued eel.

"I think so; I have nothing to do tomorrow because everybody in the house is going out of town." Ichigo replied as Rukia took some of his eel and replaced it with a sushi piece in his lunch container.

"Rangiku, what time is the party tomorrow?" Rukia asked and Rangiku wiped away a little bit of ketchup around Hisagi's mouth with a napkin.

"It'll start around six, but you girls have to get there around five so we can get ready!" Rangiku chirped and Rukia put away her containers as she finished up her lunch.

"Are there going to be anything _special_ there?" Rukia asked and Hitsugaya looked at her.

"Yeah, I got some." Hitsugaya said as he took a sip of his iced tea and ate some of the candied beans he had with them and Ichigo arched a brow.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ichigo asked and Rukia rolled her eyes as she laughed.

"Do I have to remind you what we do?" Rukia asked and Ichigo scrolled through Rukia's phone which he had stolen out of her jean pocket.

"Nope, not at all." Ichigo said as he found pictures of her with non related "siblings". They were mostly little children, he imagine that Rukia was probably the oldest child in that house.

"Give me back my phone you retarded Strawberry!" Rukia yelled as she slapped Ichigo upside the head, and took her phone back.

"Alright, damn midget! Shit, you got anything personal on there you don't want me to see?" Ichigo asked as he rubbed his head and Rukia smiled at him.

"No, but you stole it, so I had to take it back." Rukia smirked and Ichigo rolled his eyes – but their little interaction didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the people sitting at the group who all smirked at them.

-Saturday, 5:30 P.M.-

Rukia hair sprayed the last of her curled hair and looked at Rangiku as she was pulling up her dress.

"Rukia, hon, can you come zip me up?" Rangiku asked and Rukia got up, her feet stepping on the lush carpet of Rangiku's room.

Rangiku lifted her arms and Rukia zipped her up, she examined the dress. It was simple black strapless dress with a simple ribbon rose stitched on the side. She had black stockings underneath.

"Rukia, can you help me with my rollers?" Momo asked as she pointed to her hair and Rukia chuckled as she undid the pins from Momo's rollers and gently unraveled her hair from it.

"So, Rukia, do you like that Ichigo boy?" Rangiku asked as she sat down at her vanity and started applying some make up. Rukia coughed as she widened her eyes and hair sprayed Momo's hair as she began unraveling the curly hair.

"No, why do you ask?" Rukia asked and Rangiku opened up a jar of blush and dabbed her brush in it and tapped it on her wrist and tried to find where to put her blush on her pale cheeks.

"I don't know it just seems like you guys have a lot of chemistry." Rangiku said as she began swiping on her blush on both of her cheeks and opened up a container filled with many tubes of lipsticks and lip gloss. Momo began applying liquid liner on her upper lid.

"Rangiku's right, you guys seem like a couple already." Momo stated and Rukia took out another roller, producing curly brown hair.

"I mean, we're really close and all, but I don't how to explain it." Rukia said and Rangiku eyed Rukia's jean pockets and applied black eyeliner on her upper lids as well.

"You've stopped smoking ever since you met him." Rangiku stated and Rukia dropped the roller that was in her hand, leaving the roller to hang halfway in Momo's hair.

"You didn't think we wouldn't notice huh?" Momo said as Rukia picked up the roller again and began unrolling again.

"I don't feel lonely when I'm around him." Rukia quietly said as Rangiku halted from putting on her light pink lip gloss and looked at Momo who smiled a little bit as she lightly applied blush on her cheeks.

"I knew it." Both Rangiku and Momo called at the same time and Rukia rolled her eyes at them.

"_Shut up_ you two!" Rukia joked as they burst into a fit of giggles.

-3 hours later-

Rangiku shut the door for the billionth time it seemed today as watched people drive away and such, and girls and guys sloppily walk and stagger – since they were drunk, and walk into their friend's cars or their own and drove off.

"Getting tired princess?" Hisagi asked as he wrapped his arms around Rangiku's waist and she kissed him on the cheek.

"It's the after party, I can't be tired." She said as she smiled as she snuggled closer to his body and he kissed her on the cheek.

"Come on; let's go to the living room with the rest of them." Hisagi said as he let go of her and intertwined her hand with his as they walked to Rangiku's living room and found their friends sitting the living room.

Ichigo looked uncomfortable with everybody drinking at the moment, and Rukia was quietly sipping her beer and Ichigo looked down at his soda.

"You're not going to drink?" Rukia asked and Ichigo arched a brow at her.

"No, I don't particularly drink." Ichigo said as he took a sip of his soda again and Rukia tucked her feet under her thighs. She could feel how cold her feet were through her denim skinny jeans.

Rangiku plopped down on the couch with bottles of sake and tossed one to Ikkaku who caught it quickly and poured out half for Yumichika.

"Rukia, you ready?" Hitsugaya asked as he shifted around in his pockets, and Rukia got up and nodded.

"Yeah, come here Shuuhei." Rukia said as Hitsugaya tossed a packet of white powder for each of them.

"You guys owe me." Hitsugaya said as they opened the packets and dumped it on the table, and took cards from out of their pockets, spread the powder out into one thin line in front of them, and rolled up small pieces of paper into tubes.

"Coke, are you serious guys?" Renji asked as he sipped on his vodka.

"Marijuana wouldn't have gotten us high anyways." Hitsugaya stated bluntly as he took off his black pea coat. Rukia held the tube in between her fingers.

"Where's Momo?" Rukia asked and Hitsugaya looked down at his watch.

"I put her upstairs to sleep after she drank that punch that Rangiku spiked. We're going to spend the night here since I can't drive after we do this." Hitsugaya said and Ichigo widened his eyes.

"Wait guys! What are you doing?" Ichigo yelled and Rukia turned around and rolled her eyes.

"If you don't want to watch, go outside with Rangiku." Rukia said as Rangiku got up and opened her sliding door to her backyard and gestured for Ichigo to go outside and Ichigo glared at them.

"Alright, but I'm coming back in after you guys are done to check up on you." Ichigo said as Rukia waved him off and looked at Shuuhei and Hitsugaya.

"Ready guys?" Rukia asked and Hitsugaya smirked.

"Yep, let's go." He stated as they bent down and sniffed up the powder into their noses and collapsed as the effects started immediately making them laugh wildly in their drugged state.

-Outside-

"Aren't you concerned for Hisagi?" Ichigo asked as he took a sip of his soda and Rangiku took a sip of her sake.

"I am, but I can't just make him stop automatically, and they don't really do drugs all to often and in small doses too. Plus, he said he would quit when I stopped drinking so much." Rangiku said as she looked somber as she gazed up at the stars.

"It's our lifestyle, we can't stop, it's addicting, but you wouldn't understand us why we do this. We all ended up drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, except for Momo because we had a mishap in our lives. And this is what we turned to." Rangiku said as Ichigo looked away and Yumichika opened the sliding door and popped out his head.

"They finished." Yumichika said and Ichigo and Rangiku walked back in to see Hitsugaya, Hisagi, and Rukia laughing at the top of their lungs.

"Is this how they usually get?" Ichigo asked quietly as he looked at the three of them as they laughed for no apparent reason.

"Yep, you get used to it after a while," Rangiku said as she sat down on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest as she drank, gesturing for Ichigo to sit next to her. "Guys, be quiet! Momo's sleeping you dumbass. And if you get caught Hitsugaya, your ass is going to be in trouble!" Rangiku yelled and Hitsugaya looked at her and burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay, I won't be loud." He stifled in a laugh and began laughing again and Hisagi sloppily high fived him, while Rukia laughed with them.

"Hey guys I feel sleepy." Rukia hazily said and Hisagi patted her on the back.

"It's your first time, we all felt the same way." They burst out laughing again and Ichigo got up as he looked at Hisagi and Hitsugaya as Rukia began to lie down.

"It's Rukia's first time doing this?" Ichigo asked and Hitsugaya kept on laughing as he drank his tea.

"Yeah, she's doing a lot better than us, me and Hisagi passed out right after we did the drugs." Hitsugaya and Hisagi kept on laughing and Ichigo looked at Rangiku.

"Do you know why she decided to be stupid?" Ichigo asked as he leaned down by Rukia's side and held up her head on his lap. "Come on Rukia, wake up." Ichigo said and Rangiku looked down as she punched Hisagi and Hitsugaya in the stomach, making them stop laughing and eventually they began to get sleepy.

"She told us one of her littler siblings got adopted two days ago. Rukia always feels lonely after one of the kids in her foster house gets adopted but she doesn't." Rangiku said as Hisagi fell asleep and she asked Ikkaku to help her carry him up to her room.

She then asked Yumichika to lay Hitsugaya down on the couch and Yumichika muttered how ugly it was to take drugs. Then moved Hitsugaya so that his back was lying down completely on the couch, placed a bucket down next to him, just in case, and then placed his pea coat over him.

"You go on and take her to your house. Her foster mom and the kids are probably already asleep, so I wouldn't wake them up." Rangiku said as she got a blanket out and draped it over Hitsugaya.

Ichigo got up and put Rukia over his shoulder, placing a firm grip on her thighs to carry her.

"Yeah, I'll go, see you on Monday." Ichigo said as Rangiku waved him off and Ichigo got into his car after placing Rukia in the passenger seat and buckled her up.

-Next morning-

Rukia blinked open her eyes and placed a cold hand on her forehead from her throbbing headache.

"I'm never going to take cocaine ever again. I'm such a dumbass." Rukia muttered to herself.

"Yeah, you are a dumbass." A masculine voice came out and Rukia looked around to see Ichigo holding out painkillers and a glass of water.

"Oh shut up." Rukia snapped as she took the offered pills and water and swallowed them. Rukia looked around and saw it wasn't her room.

"I'm at your house?" Rukia asked and Ichigo nodded as he checked his watch.

"Yep, and you can brush your teeth, bathroom's down two doors to the left. I'm going to finish up breakfast." Ichigo said as he got up and Rukia watched his form leave his bedroom and Rukia turned over the sheets so her legs weren't entrapped in the soft blankets. She looked around and saw it was a simple and rather plain room, but it was nice compared to Hisagi, Renji, and Ikkaku's dirty rooms. Rukia stepped out and felt soft carpet squishing in between her toes.

She got up and realized she was wearing comfortable shorts and a large shirt.

She looked down and realized she wasn't wearing her skinny jeans, her white tank top from before, or her leather jacket. She realized that no one was in the house besides Ichigo during the current time and walked off to the bathroom.

She found a note in the sink that pointed to a spare toothbrush, and a paper cup she could use. Rukia snorted as she saw it had bunnies imprinted on the toothbrush.

"Little sissy, told me he doesn't like rabbits." Rukia muttered as she began to brush her teeth and after two minutes, she finished up. She walked downstairs and saw Ichigo putting hot pancakes on two plates. She leaned against the frame of the entrance to her kitchen and smirked.

"Aww, little Strawberry cooks now? How impressive." Rukia commented and Ichigo rolled his eyes as he handed her a plate and a fork.

"Go sit down dumbass." Ichigo said as Rukia laughed and sat down in the table for four next to the kitchen.

-Afterwards-

"By the way, I'm curious, how'd you undress me?" Rukia asked as Ichigo was washing up dishes.

"It's not that hard. And no, I didn't try anything, I'm not a pervert. You looked uncomfortable in those skinny jeans. Those shorts are my sister, and that shirt is mine." Ichigo said as Rukia leaned against the kitchen frame again.

"Where are my clothes? And what time is it?" Rukia asked and Ichigo looked at the clock as he dried the last dish.

"Its 6: 30 and your clothes are in my room." Ichigo said as Rukia widened her eyes.

"Shit! We have to go to my house in 5 minutes!" Rukia said as she ran upstairs and Ichigo looked up at her and shook his head as he smiled a little and stretched his muscular arms.

"You ready princess midget?" Ichigo asked five minutes later and Rukia came running downstairs as Rukia smoothed out her hair. She gave Ichigo a quick smile as they walked out of his house and into his car.

-Arriving at the house-

"I need your help getting in the house." Rukia said as she got out of the car and Ichigo arched a brow as he switched off the engine.

"Don't you have keys to your own house?" Ichigo asked as he got out of the car and leaned his arms on the top of his car. Rukia put her hands on her hips and pointed to a window that was a foot taller than him.

"I can't go up to the front door, she'll get mad at me, and she's a light sleeper." Rukia said, indicating her foster mother and Ichigo looked at the window, examined Rukia and sighed.

"How do I get you up there?" Ichigo asked and Rukia smirked. I need you to boost me up." Rukia said as she grabbed him by the hand and took him over to the spot right below the window.

"Give me a boost." Rukia said as Ichigo held out his hands ready for her foot to step on it and he hoisted her up easily as she opened the window quietly and secretly smiled, glad that her 'sisters' never locked it. Rukia looked down and gave him thumbs up as she gripped the window ledge and climbed into the room stealthily. She looked out the window and blew a kiss to Ichigo and waved him off.

"Morning midget!" Ichigo said as Rukia flipped him off and shut the window as he walked away.

Rukia walked away from the window as she saw Ichigo's car driving off and checked on her sisters and smiled. Quickly, she changed into her bed clothes and got into bed, looking at the clock and seeing that it was 6:45. The mother of the household was going to come in and check around seven. Rukia closed her eyes and smiled.

-15 minutes later-

Rukia heard the door open and pretended to just wake up in order to show her foster mother she was awake.

"Rukia, are you awake?" Her mother asked and Rukia opened her eyes and pretended to yawn.

"Yeah, I am." Rukia said as her mother sighed in relief and sat on the edge of her bed.

"I was worried, I went to sleep at ten, and you didn't come home yet." She said in a soft gentle voice and Rukia smiled as she sat up.

"I came home at eleven, that's why, sorry." Rukia said as she ran a hand through her hair and smiled at the smell of strawberries.

"Well, just don't try to stay up too late again if you go out. By the way, today at ten in the morning, dress appropriately, you have company later today." The woman said as she got up and took out a nice blouse and some jeans and laid it on Rukia's bed and patted it.

"Wait, why?" Rukia asked as the woman began walking out of the room and stopped midway and turned around and smiled slightly in sadness.

"Don't you see silly? They might want to adopt you. Come on and help me make breakfast for the kids." The woman said and Rukia widened her eyes as her heart started to pound heavily and she grabbed her phone and pressed the message button.

'**Oh my god, I might be getting adopted today!' **Rukia sent the message and dropped her phone on her bed as she got out of bed quietly and walked out of the room, shutting the door.

_**Message Sent: **_

_**To Ichigo Kurosaki at 7:15 A.M. **_

**Author's note: Okay, this thing was getting EXTREMELY too long for my tastes. So when I feel like doing another filler chapter, then I'll finish this baby up. Or just post a separate one shot towards it. Thank you guys so much. It's Final's week so yeah! I get SO much free time! Please leave a review! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: So, yeah, I'm updating, but I just wanted to clear something up. **

**I'm not going to specify who – but someone sent me this message asking me if I gave up on this story. I didn't, it's just, I'm lazy and I'm BUSY. **

**I would never ever give up on this story, even though it's been tolling on for a little bit too long due to inconvenience of my schedule. I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but trust me, the day that I give this story up, I will notify my readers – I'm not a reader just to drop off a story and not say anything about it. **

**It kind of makes me sad that you guys would doubt me anyways, but it's whatever. I understand your view point. **

**_Also_, the next time I post up filler – which I clearly explained to five billion people that what I consider to be fillers are not the standard definition of fillers – do not become angry or whatever about it. I post what I post, I've done this before, and so I don't know why there was confusion of ANY kind. But I get it, it's whatever. **

She told herself to calm down as she hid behind a pillar, she smirked a little as she acknowledged she managed to slip out of his grasp, _again_.

"Come out; come out, wherever you are." The demonic voice sang as his feet padded against the wooden floors as he looked left and right among the long and dark hallway of the residency. She peeked out her head again and bit her lip to obtain her laughter and embarked on another run again to a nearby pillar.

Playing games with him were fun, but almost tiring – he was good at this game.

Hide and Go Seek.

"I hear you." The voice rang out and Rukia turned to peek around the corner only to look straight forward and gasp out loud. He had already found her.

Game over.

"Jeez, I thought I'd never find you." Kamen abruptly slammed her against the pillar, the coldness of the pillar seeping through her thin sleeping garb. "You're a challenge." His face dipped low as his hands tightened around her hips and held her tight. He began nipping at her neck which made her laugh a little bit.

"You're not fair." Rukia hissed out as she tried to keep herself quiet, it was night time in the house hold – and very late as well.

"Maybe if you hid yourself a little bit better, then I wouldn't have found you, but then that means me being awake for another day, wouldn't what that, would we?" He sniped as he immediately hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder and speedily went back into their bedroom. He tossed her onto the bed and crawled over her.

"What's wrong with you?" Kamen asked as his fingers probed at the soft silk of her robes. She turned her head, leaving her neck wide open for him to attack, which he did.

"Nothing." Her cold tone didn't make him stop and instead, he looked up at her and shook his head.

"No, something's wrong." She thought about earlier when she read the letter her parents sent her.

"It's not like you care." He didn't hesitate at her statement; they both knew it was true. He didn't exactly care about her feelings.

"I don't." It was silent; it was just a nice silence that filled the room as Kamen was doing as he pleased.

"Can you tell Ichigo that my parents are coming tomorrow?" Rukia asked as Kamen shrugged off his robes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Kamen kissed her and that was the end of the conversation.

Next Day:

Rukia was in the midst of eating breakfast with Orihime, who was bragging on about the perfumes that Ichigo recently bought her.

"It smells _so_ wonderful, he knows me so well." Orihime boasted and Rukia resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she ate quietly.

"Did he get you anything?" Orihime asked and Rukia arched a neatly groomed brow.

"Excuse me?" Rukia picked up a piece of fruit and took a bite out of it.

"For your anniversary, that's all he's been rambling on for the past few days in bed." Orihime checked up on her nails and Rukia let her eyes roll just a little this time.

"I don't expect him to get me anything; I'm not a selfish wife." Rukia heard a servant scurry in and bow down in front of her.

"I have important news." The servant said with her head bowed down. Rukia put down her eating utensils and turned to face the servant.

"Go on." Rukia commanded as she took a sip of her brewed tea.

"Your parents have arrived." The servant went on and Rukia stood up gracefully.

"Clear the table and make some food and more tea, I will go and greet them myself." Rukia smoothed out her robes and walked behind Orihime and bent down. "Please be on your best behavior today." Rukia whispered as she began walking away and Orihime glared at Rukia's retreating figure and finished her food quickly.

Rukia walked outside and saw her mother and father step down from the palanquin they were in and her mother rushed to her.

"Oh, you look more beautiful as time passes by!" Her mother, Hisana, gushed as she crushed her only daughter into a hug. Rukia wrapped her arms around Hisana.

"Thanks mother," Rukia smiled and looked up to see her father staring at them and having a somewhat happy look on his face. She left her hug with her mother to bow slightly to her father.

"I hope you have been doing well Father." Byakuya nodded and Rukia rose back up fully. "Please come with me, I have prepared tea." Rukia said as they began walking around in the house they've visited from time to time and found the eating room with a table set up with fresh tea, delicacies, and pastries.

They sat down on the cushions as Rukia poured tea immediately.

"So, how has your life been?" Hisana asked and Rukia gave a small smile.

"It's been quaint, it's peaceful around here. How has life been for you two?" Hisana took a piece of fruit and bit into it delicately.

"It's been the same, but wonderful with your father." Hisana said as she slipped her arm into Byakuya's arm and leaned against him and smiled.

"How has that brute of a husband been treating you?" Byakuya asked as he played with Hisana's fingers.

"Father," Rukia scolded and looked at him, "That's not nice to say, but, we've been fine." Rukia sipped on her tea and Hisana and Byakuya looked at each other and back at Rukia.

"When are you going to conceive children Rukia?" Byakuya asked and Rukia nearly spit out her tea from the question. She managed to refrain herself and remain composed.

"We're awfully busy for that kind of stuff Father; besides, I'm too young to have children. You're sounding like Ichigo's father you know." Rukia joked and Byakuya frowned even more – if that was even possible.

"Forget I asked, but you should take into consideration into having some soon, it would be good to have heirs to take over the house." Byakuya commented and Rukia took her father and mother's conjoined hands and held onto them.

"It will happen when it happens." The topic fell after that. The door slammed open by a yawning husband as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Rukia, how many times do I need to tell you to not-," Ichigo opened his eyes to see Byakuya and Hisana sitting down and looking at him with curiosity and Rukia glared at him.

"Hey, what are Byakuya and Hisana doing here?" Ichigo asked as he quickly rearranged his dark blue robes. Rukia sighed deeply as she looked at him.

"I told you last night they were coming, and please have some respect, don't call them by their first names." Rukia hissed and Ichigo walked in and gently closed the door and sat down.

"It seems you always forget your manners Kurosaki." Byakuya said and Hisana lightly prodded her husband's side.

"Sorry for not joining you three earlier, I just woke up." Ichigo looked at Rukia, "You didn't tell me they were coming." Ichigo whispered as Rukia turned to him and smiled.

"I told Kamen yesterday." She whispered through clenched teeth, Ichigo frowned.

"You know you can't rely on him for anything!" He hissed and Rukia dug her nails into his skin lightly, making him bite his lip from the pain.

"Would you like tea Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she poured out tea into the small cup for him and Ichigo smiled at her.

"So, how have been Ichigo?" Hisana looked at Ichigo and he scratched the back of his head while smiling.

"I've been fine, it was nice full moon we had out last night." Ichigo commented and Hisana smiled.

"It was, me and Byakuya went outside to look at it and then we-." She stopped when Byakuya arched a brow at her.

"I don't think we should go on with our _boring_ story." Byakuya gently said and Hisana's cheeks turned a little pink from embarrassment.

Ichigo and Rukia arched a brow at their behavior and Rukia immediately caught on.

"Oh god." Rukia groaned lightly at what Hisana and Byakuya truly meant and Ichigo almost started laughing when he realized what was going on.

"Kurosaki," Byakuya started, "Anything interesting going -." He was cut off when the door opened and Rukia turned around to see Orihime coming in.

"Is Ichigo here?" Orihime asked gently, looking around the room and she spotted Ichigo, she immediately dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face into his chest. "I missed you last night, where were you?" Orihime asked and Ichigo awkwardly laughed while trying to push her away.

"It was the full moon last night Orihime; I spend time with Rukia on the full moon." Ichigo reminded and Orihime pouted.

"That's not fair," Orihime whined, "I need to spend time with you too." Byakuya and Hisana looked at each other and looked at the interaction in front of them.

"Orihime, not now, this is inappropriate, Ichigo, why don't you take her back to her room?" Rukia asked and Ichigo managed to get Orihime off of him.

"But Rukia…" Ichigo whined a little and Rukia smiled.

"It would be best, please, I understand." Ichigo got up and dragged Orihime with him as he bowed to Byakuya and Hisana and left with Orihime.

They sat in silence as Rukia rubbed her forehead a little, she had gotten a headache.

"Rukia," the voice belonged to her father, it was cold and serious. Rukia looked up and smiled softly.

"Yes father?" Rukia asked in the soft voice, preparing what was to come.

,

"Is that Orihime girl a concubine or not?" Byakuya asked in a deadly tone and Rukia's smile dropped.

"I'm afraid it is." Rukia responded, Hisana sighed in sadness.

"I thought it was working it out well between you two, you two are best friends." Hisana commented sadly and Rukia looked out the window in the room, seeing the cherry blossoms and Ichigo and Orihime conversing as he picked out a bouquet of flowers from the garden. Orihime seemed happy.

Her eyes softened and she stared at the window.

"I can't make him happy mother, I'm sorry." Rukia commented and there was silence.

-Later-

Rukia felt drained after her visit with her parents, and them finding out about Rukia and Ichigo's ordeal with their marriage.

Rukia opened her bedroom door only to find all of the flowers Ichigo picked earlier in a nice vase; the flowers were vibrant and beautiful.

There was a note attached and Rukia read it.

'_I'm sorry' _

Rukia smiled as she fingered the soft petals.

It was more than enough.

**Author's note: So yeah, that's what I pulled out in about a weekend when I'm supposed to be working on my homework. I hope you guys aren't mad at me anymore. Please DO not doubt me; I know what I'm doing. **

**I hope you guys have a great day! **

**Please review! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Yeah, I finished my homework, so I thought I'd work on another chapter. It made sense. **

**Oh, I do want to clear something up, if you were curious. I don't hate Orihime; I think she's such a cute character in Bleach! But, I had to work her to my advantage so Ichigo and Rukia prevail as the main couple. So don't feel as if I hate Orihime by making her this way, it's just that's how the story works. **

**Since Once Upon A Time doesn't air another episode until like 2 weeks, I have nothing to do. **

The men roared in laughter as their raised their alcohols and drank. Rukia smiled daintily as she poured more sake for an associate of Ichigo's that sat right next to her. She looked at the table and realized the men needed more snacks; she gently reached out to Ichigo's arm. Ichigo stopped smiling and looked at her.

"Yes Rukia?" Ichigo asked gently and Rukia smiled softly.

"I'll be out for a little bit, I need to get more snacks for your guests." Ichigo looked at his wife and realized how stunning she looked today. She wore a deep red color, her white powder was on regularly, and her eyes were outlined with thin black lines, and had a bit of purple, pinks, and blues on her lids. Her hair was put into a high bun and decorated with ornaments, and the dark blue and gold kimono suited her well.

"Alright then, be sure to come back soon." Rukia used his strong arm for support as she got up gently and left the room. Ichigo dug into his robes and felt comforted as he touched the smooth red box and brought his hand back out.

"So Ichigo, how are you and the wife?" Kenpachi wondered as he took another gulp of his sake and Ichigo arched a brow and took a sip of his sake.

"It's been good, we're fine." Ichigo responded without trying to let anybody know he had a concubine living in the household.

"You two going to have children soon?" Ichigo's friend Ikkaku butted in and Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck.

"We're not really working on it right now." Ikkaku looked at Ichigo with an arched brow.

"She's a woman, you're a man, you're a man, when are you going to bring sons to uphold the family name?" Ikkaku yelled in his drunkenness and Ichigo shrugged.

"I don't think she really wants kids right now." Ichigo tried to end the conversation quickly before Rukia got back into the room. He didn't want to remind her how much their relationship changed because of them not having kids at their point in marriage.

"Ichigo, this is nonsense, you take her, and you shove her up on that bed and -." He was cut off when Rukia stepped into the room and smiled at Ikkaku.

"And do what Ikkaku-Sama?" Rukia smiled at Ikkaku politely and he blushed and looked away from her. Even though she was threatening him, she was still the most beautiful woman in the room out of all of the women draped over the other men in the room.

"N-n-nothing Kurosaki-san." Rukia set down the various plates holding snacks and sat by Ichigo again as she took a sip of her tea.

"You're scary and you don't even realize it." Ichigo whispered as the other men were laughing at another one's joke or stories being passed around the room. Rukia didn't look at Ichigo and tilted towards him.

"I know I am, by the way, I heard the whole conversation." Rukia grabbed the sake bottle and poured some into Ichigo's dish. Ichigo looked at her and sighed as he frowned.

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to protect you." Ichigo whispered and Rukia touched his shoulder and gently smiled. Her beauty shined through her small smiles and he found himself comforted. He remembered something and dug into his robes; he brought out a small red box and handed it to her. "It's for our anniversary; you didn't think I would forget did you?" Ichigo smiled and she took the box gently. She opened the box and her lips curled into a big smile.

A necklace that showcased a pendant of sapphire with black diamonds made a shape of an elegant butterfly with a string of small diamonds encrusted in the white gold neck chain.

Ichigo smiled at Rukia's warm smile and felt a little happy that he was still able to make her smile.

"Thank you." Rukia whispered as Ichigo took her hand.

"No problem." Rukia squeezed his hand and they quickly released each other's hand as Ichigo helped her put it on. Rukia's fingers touched the necklace and she tucked it under her kimono to make sure no one would see it. A man who looked at Rukia's and Ichigo's interaction looked down at his sake and gripped his dish harder and took a large gulp.

He emptied a whole bottle of sake by himself making Kira notice.

"Are you okay Ashido?" The blonde haired man asked and Ashido nodded. Ashido steamed in quiet anger, he was the one to almost marry Rukia, if only she hadn't gotten married to Ichigo.

He looked at Rukia while Ichigo laughed with his companions and saw her realize that there was no more sake going around. She tapped Ichigo gently, making him turn around and look at her. They spoke and Ichigo nodded as Rukia collected the empty bottles and walk out. Ashido put down his sake dish down and stood up, making the entire group of men look at him.

"Where are you going Ashido?" Renji asked gruffly as he ate a rice ball that had meat stuffed inside. Ashido smiled weakly at them as he put his hands in his sleeves.

"I'm going to the bathroom, if you will excuse me." Every one of them nodded and went back into discussion as Ashido left the room. He saw Rukia enter into a room and Ashido quietly went after her. He went in the room and saw Rukia reaching up to get a few extra bottles of sake. It was too tall for her to reach and Ashido chuckled and grabbed the bottles for her.

"You're much too short to be grabbing these." Ashido teased and Rukia was surprised and her face settled into a smile.

"Hello there Kano-Sama, thank you for the help, these are Ichigo's favorites, so thank you for helping me retrieve them." Rukia greeted kindly and Ashido clenched his fists at her formalities. They were friends!

"I told you not to call me Kano-Sama a long time ago." Ashido said as Rukia put the full sake bottles on a tray she had brought with her. Rukia remained relaxed as she sifted through the numerous bottles of sake her and Ichigo had obtained over the past year.

"You are a lord, I'm supposed to address you correctly, and that was when we were still trying to figure out who I was supposed to marry." Rukia countered and Ashido furrowed his brows in irritation and let it go.

"But we can still maintain that you don't call me Kano-Sama, it makes me feel old." Ashido said politely and Rukia let out a small laugh, making a tiny smile crack onto his face.

"Then old is what you shall be then." Rukia went back to look for more sake bottles that fit everyone's preferences.

"Are you happy with him?" Rukia widened her eyes at the question and hesitated before picking up the desired bottle. She shook it off and picked up the bottle.

"Of course I am what would make you think otherwise?" Rukia shuffled through another aisle of bottles and picked another brand, passing by Ashido and coming back to the shelf.

"You know, there are rumors that he has a concubine." Ashido stated and Rukia walked around him and placed another bottle down while going back to the shelf and looking for certain tea leaves.

"They are true." Her reply was curt and Ashido narrowed his eyes a bit at her cold remark.

"So you're not happy." Rukia was irritated and she picked up the boxes of tea she wanted.

"Why do you care all of the sudden?" Rukia snapped as she placed down the dried tea leaves on the tray and went back to finally pick up a few dry ingredients for snacks.

"Because Rukia," Ashido bit his lip as he hesitated, "I like you; I wanted you to be my wife instead." Rukia almost dropped the items she had in her hands and cleared her throat.

"That doesn't matter now." Rukia brushed off, hoping Ashido would go away. There were many reasons why Ashido hadn't been chosen to become her husband. Ashido grew angry and turned her around, making her gasp as he lifted her up and shoved her against the shelf. He dug his body in between her legs, making her bare and slim legs show, her feet had no socks currently.

"What is the meaning of this?" Rukia hissed as the items she had in her hands laid on the floor. Her hair became a messy bun, showing the strands of hair that framed her face, she breathed heavily.

"He doesn't love you, and you don't love him. I love you Rukia, why won't you listen to me?" Ashido was in a fury and Rukia glared at Ashido.

"I don't love you Ashido, there are many reasons why we didn't get married, and this probably would have been one of them." She retaliated and Ashido pushed her up against the wall even more. His face became close to hers as he examined her.

"Look at him; he doesn't even care about you! He has a concubine and he doesn't treat you right! You're a wonderful wife Rukia, why are you wasting yourself on him?" Ashido roared and Rukia turned her head away from Ashido's firing gaze.

"He has cared for me more than you ever will. I chose him for a reason Ashido, keep this in mind." Rukia's tone remained gentle, calm, and serious. Ashido gripped her face and forced her to look at her.

"If you won't let him go, I'll make him let you go." Rukia widened her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her and Ichigo came into the room.

"Rukia-," His eyes narrowed instantly and he ran towards Rukia and Ashido. Ichigo grabbed Ashido and ripped him off of Rukia while catching her at the same time. Ichigo dropped Rukia gently so she could stand and immediately had his sword in his hand. The pure black katana gleamed while Ashido lay on the floor and Ichigo had his sword pointing at Ashido's face. "You are not to ever lay a hand on her, ever _again_." Ichigothreatenedas Ashido gritted his teeth together as he propped himself up.

"You don't even care nor love her! I would treat your own wife better than you've treated her ever. You are the worst husband in the history of Japan." Ashido hissed and Ichigo leaned in closer to Ashido.

"You stay away from _my_ wife, she will _never_ be yours. Go now before I slice your head off." Ichigo hissed as he let his sword diminish back into his stone and Ashido glared as Rukia went to Ashido and helped him up. Ichigo gaped at the scene as Rukia bowed to Ashido.

"I'm very sorry for the incident Kano-Sama, but I do believe that it is time for you to leave." Ashido reached out to touch Rukia but Rukia caught his hand and gently pushed it away. "Leave." Her curtness stung him and he glared at Ichigo once last time, gave a longing look to Rukia and left the room. Rukia turned around to be met with an intense glare.

"I just saved your life, and then you go and bow to the man who almost raped you?" Ichigo yelled and Rukia narrowed her violet eyes at him.

"Why do you care so much? You don't even love me." Rukia asked and Ichigo went quiet.

"I appreciate what you do for me Ichigo, I honestly do. Seriously though, Ashido is right, it seems like you don't care about me as much as I care about you. I don't care if you don't love me, but I don't know why you try so hard to save me when you don't even care." Ichigo went quiet and looked at Rukia; did she think that he felt that way about her?

"I didn't know you felt that way." Ichigo and Rukia remained quiet as he looked down at the floor and Rukia looked at Ichigo.

"Why do you care? Most husbands would have not accepted that the men advanced onto them." Rukia asked quietly and Ichigo looked up at her.

"Because I know you care about us too much." Ichigo answered and Rukia snapped her eyes onto him.

"Maybe I should stop trying if you are too." Rukia admitted and Ichigo looked at her.

"Don't." Ichigo breathed out and Rukia looked up into Ichigo's amber eyes.

"Tell me one reason why I shouldn't stop." Rukia asked as Ichigo looked at her and wandered his eyes away.

"Because-…" Ichigo looked at her and realized that even though her makeup hadn't smeared, he remembered her face when she didn't wear makeup. She looked stunning and he couldn't stop staring at her. She went up closer to him.

"Even you don't have a reason. I guess that's all that needs to be said then." Rukia looked down at the floor, Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. He went up to her quickly, making Rukia look up and Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"What are you do-." She was cut off when she felt something touch her lips and Rukia realized that Ichigo was kissing her. Rukia widened her eyes and she wanted to grip Ichigo's robes and pull him closer, but her hands gently pushed him away. Rukia felt Ichigo let go of her and he looked at her.

"I'm so sorry." Ichigo whispered and Rukia looked down away from him.

"It's fine, just right now, I need to think." Rukia breathed and Ichigo nodded before giving Rukia a last glance and walking out of the room. Rukia's fingers touched her lips and she shook off the feeling she had gotten, picked up the tray of tea and sake, and left the room promptly.

**Author's Note: Yeah, I updated again. Hopefully this makes up for some lost time. I hope you guys had fun reading this, read and review! Goodbye now! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: I'm back. I don't think it's been too long since I've updated. I'm not sure anymore. So, I hope to get this story finished by this year. I've been dragging it out too long. -_- **

**So, who liked that kiss in the last chapter? I bet all of you hated me for that one. **

**Infertile Love: **

"_Who_ made my tea?" Orihime yelled at the table, Rukia and Ichigo stopped eating and stared at her, puzzled.

"What's wrong _this_ time?" Rukia asked as she put a small bunch of fried egg into her mouth and swallowed with rice. Orihime shoved the tea cup into Rukia's face.

"It tastes _disgusting_." A servant came out and replaced the tea pot immediately, but not without escaping a lecture from Orihime. Rukia waved off the servant and ate her rice.

"I bet not as disgusting as your cooking." Rukia muttered as Orihime glared at Rukia. Rukia remembered distinctly a couple of days ago, a plate of rice balls were in the kitchen, Rukia took one, took a bite out of it, spit it out, and demanded to know who made it. The kitchen staff told her that Orihime had made them and placed them so Orihime could serve it to Ichigo. Rukia threw away the rice ball and demanded that the whole plate be thrown away. Rukia wasn't going to poison her own husband with his concubine's disgusting cooking.

"What did you say?" Rukia gave her a delicate smile and put a piece of meat in Ichigo and Orihime's bowl.

"Nothing, nothing at all, hurry up and eat, the food is getting cold." Ichigo looked at Rukia and felt guilty. It's been two weeks since their _kiss_ and she hadn't said anything at all about it.

"Rukia, we need to talk." Ichigo whispered and Rukia looked at him shrugged.

"There's nothing to talk about. Go on and eat." Ichigo huffed as he finished eating; Rukia finished early and got up slowly.

"I'll be taking my departure. If you need me, I'll be waiting for our guests." Rukia bowed and Orihime looked at Ichigo who seemed a bit saddened.

"Who's visiting Ichigo?" Orihime asked nosily and Ichigo scratched the back of his orange hair.

"My friend Ulquiorra is with Grimmjow. We're going to spar today." Ichigo informed and Orihime nodded as she began going on about her morning and the disappearance of her rice balls.

Rukia folded her hands together and looked around the garden; the cherry blossoms had yet to bloom. Only a week and they would be in bloom. A servant accompanied her as she viewed the servants watering plants and tending to the flowers and such.

"Spring is coming isn't it Kurosaki-Sama?" The servant asked and Rukia reached out and touched the tree bark of the cherry blossoms.

"Yes, indeed, make sure you keep an eye on the cherry blossoms. They're my favorite." Rukia turned around and saw a messenger on his knees, Rukia looked down at him.

"What is it Messenger?" The messenger stood up and bowed to her.

"Your guests have arrived, shall I bring them in?" Rukia shook her head, making her hair ornaments tinkle.

"I'll go greet them myself, take me to them." The messenger led the way and Rukia saw two large horses. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow gripped the reins as they saw Rukia.

"Ah, Rukia, looking more beautiful than the last time I saw you." Grimmjow saluted as Ulquiorra and Grimmjow got off their horses, the servants immediately taking the horses away. Rukia smiled at the two.

"You flatter me Jaegerjaquez – Sama, it's nice to see you too Schiffer-Sama." Rukia greeted, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra nodded their heads.

"It's always nice to see you too Rukia." Ulquiorra responded as Rukia led the way back inside the hall. Rukia led them down to Ichigo's office and opened the door.

"Husband, your guests have arrived." Rukia bowed as she signaled a servant to go get tea and sake for the three. A servant placed three chairs and a table, Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra seated themselves as Rukia placed tea cups and poured tea. Rukia was about to exit the room when Ichigo saw her leaving.

"Rukia, wait." Ichigo called and Rukia turned around.

"What is it? Do you require something?" Ichigo opened his mouth and closed it, what did he want?

"Yes, I require you to get into our bed so we can – ow!" Grimmjow muttered quietly as Ulquiorra grinded his foot into Grimmjow's.

"You're despicable. Kurosaki – san, might you play a song for us on your Koto?" Ulquiorra asked and a smile on pink lips formed onto Rukia's face.

"Of course I can, is there something else you needed Ichigo?" Rukia asked and Ichigo shook his head.

"I forgot it, don't worry about it." Rukia exited out of the room and Ichigo glared at Grimmjow.

"Why are you such a pervert?" Ichigo groaned and Grimmjow let out a laugh.

"Well it's obvious you two haven't had-." Grimmjow caught the tea cup thrown his way and placed it front of Ichigo.

"Don't talk about that." Ichigo snarled as he ran a hand through his hair, "The only one getting action around here is Kamen, and he barely appears." Ichigo took a sip of his sake and Ulquiorra arched a brow.

"I thought you and Rukia were on good terms?" Ulquiorra asked and Ichigo rubbed a hand over his face.

"Not right now," Ichigo looked at Grimmjow as he laid back in his chair. "Grimmjow, I was thinking about -." He was cut off when Orihime opened the door. All three men looked up at the door to see Orihime with a tray in her hands.

"Is it a bad time?" Orihime asked as her eyes recognized Ichigo and Grimmjow, but as Ulquiorra's eyes met hers, she felt something hit her. It was something different, but Orihime shook it off.

"No, of course not, what do you want?" Ichigo asked as Orihime presented a tray of rice balls.

"I made you some food since I saw Rukia-Sama rushing around the kitchen to get you some snacks." Orihime came in and put the plate on the table, completely aware of Ulquiorra staring at her. She smiled and bowed.

"Thank you." Ichigo said as Orihime opened the door with Rukia coming in at the same time.

"Oh, it's _you_." Orihime snarled and Rukia glared at her.

"I see you have already attended to our guests." Rukia said as Orihime looked down at the plate of assorted rice balls.

"Yes, I have." Orihime smirked maliciously and Rukia fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Rukia asked as Orihime left and Rukia entered the room. Ichigo arched a brow and gestured for Grimmjow and Ulquiorra to take Orihime's rice balls.

"I wouldn't eat those." Rukia warned as she put aside her tray of rice balls as Grimmjow held one up.

"Why, they don't look bad." Rukia fought the urge to laugh and gestured for them to try it.

"Looks can be deceiving, go on and try them." Grimmjow looked at Rukia and took a bite, and sure enough, he spit it out in distaste as he hastily grabbed his sake dish and drank the entire contents.

"What the hell is in that?" Grimmjow sputtered as Ulquiorra quietly poured Grimmjow another dish of sake and Rukia took away Orihime's tray and put her own tray. Grimmjow grabbed a rice ball from Rukia's dish, bit into it, and found it delicious. Rukia took Orihime's tray and handed it to a servant to dispose of.

"I'll be leaving now." Rukia turned on her heel and Ichigo swallowed.

"Wait, we need to talk later." Rukia turned her head and nodded as she went on her own way. Ichigo wiped a hand over his face as Rukia shut the door and Grimmjow swallowed the last of his third rice ball as he looked at Ichigo.

"You okay Ulquiorra? You've been quiet for the most part." Ichigo asked and Ulquiorra took a sip of his tea.

"Who's that orange haired woman that came in earlier?" Ulquiorra asked as Ichigo arched a brow. Ulquiorra never really asked about women in general.

"Oh, that's Orihime Inoue." Ichigo took a bite out of his rice ball and relished the taste of it. Ulquiorra nodded and took another sip of his tea.

"I see, interesting." Ulquiorra looked over and saw Grimmjow lean over to him.

"I think Ulquiorra's got a crush on someone." Grimmjow flashed a grin at Ulquiorra, Ichigo looked over, and Ulquiorra gave a deadly glare with his emerald orbs.

"Don't be preposterous." Ulquiorra waved off Grimmjow with a pale white hand and Grimmjow mocked him as they went back to talking.

-Later-

Ichigo wiped the sweat off of his forehead and face with a towel and tugged on his kimono to let it reveal his upper body. His upper body was toned and glistening with sweat, but if you looked closely, there was some kind of tattoo situated on his lower back to signify the Kurosaki family. Ichigo wiped his neck and passed by gawking maids who stared at his body.

He walked to his bedroom and opened the door to see Rukia sitting there reading some letters from Renji. Rukia looked up and went back to reading.

"I see you had fun with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra." Ichigo stood across from Rukia and wiped some sweat from his arms.

"I'm assuming you want to talk to me about our little incident." Rukia looked up at him through fluttery lashes and gave him a fake smile.

"I do Rukia, look, I'm sorry about what happened, and I just needed to -." He was cut off when Rukia opened her mouth.

"You just needed a reason to tell me that I needed to care still about us." Ichigo smiled weakly as he looked at her, Rukia got up and put away the books lying on the table.

"It's like you can read my mind." Rukia shrugged as her beautiful amethyst kimono gently glided after her as she stood a good distance away from Ichigo.

"I've always been able to read your mind," Ichigo gave her a slight smile of shame and Rukia looked straight at him, "So maybe you can read mine." Her lips tightened into a thin line as she glared at him. Ichigo clenched his fists as Rukia stood still.

"Rukia, you're just scared." Ichigo said after a few moments of silence and Rukia arched a brow.

"Ichigo, don't be preposterous, I'm not scared." Rukia shifted a little bit and Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her.

"You are scared Rukia, you're scared because you realize I want to be with you and maybe you want to be with me too." Ichigo hissed and Rukia widened her eyes. She was scared, she was scared that she would fall too far in love with him than she already had and he would get up and leave her again. Rukia narrowed her eyes and looked down at the ground as she gripped her right arm with her left hand.

"Maybe I am scared." Rukia said quietly and Ichigo walked towards her and stared down at her.

"What are you so scared of?" Ichigo asked quietly and Rukia broke her gaze away from.

"I don't know," She hesitated and stared back at him, "We've been best friends for as long as I remember Ichigo. When you decided to get Orihime I was hurt, I thought you stopped caring about me and I was stupid enough to still care about you." Rukia admitted and Ichigo widened his eyes.

"I never stopped caring about you Rukia." Ichigo admitted and tried to slide his hand under her chin but she gently grasped his hand.

"I'm scared we'll try again and I'll fall in love with you harder than before and then out of the blue, you'll stop caring about me and you won't feel the same I do." Ichigo looked at her sadly.

She was scared of being in love with him.

He already knew he loved her and honestly, he never loved Orihime at all. There was no other woman like Rukia. He felt guilty, the whole time she had been bottling her true feelings and he never said anything about his either.

"So, you're scared about being with me?" Ichigo asked and Rukia shook her head as she smiled at him weakly.

"I'm not scared about being with you, I've done that for two years, I'm scared you'll leave me again." Rukia admitted and Ichigo smiled at her.

"You don't have to worry about that, there's no one else like you." Rukia smiled as she released his hand, his hand slowly curved up and tilted up her chin, he leaned down and kissed her gently. She kissed him back and Ichigo felt something tingling inside of him. He released himself and kissed her more ferociously, his hands slid down and found her sash, he found himself undoing the sash and loosening her kimono. She hadn't stopped him. Her bare legs soon found way to wrap around his waist and he took her to their bed.

-Meanwhile-

"So, what's your name?" Orihime asked as she and Ulquiorra strolled in the gardens together, his hands hidden in his robes.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer, your name is Orihime Inoue, am I correct?" Ulquiorra asked and Orihime nodded gently.

"Yes, that's me!" Orihime giggled as she walked over to a bush of flowers growing and saw Ulquiorra following after her quietly.

"So, what is your job in the Kurosaki household? You don't look like a maid or servant from what I've seen." Ulquiorra inquired and Orihime picked up a flower and twirled it in her hands with a sad gaze.

"Ichigo didn't tell you?" Ulquiorra shook his head an Orihime went back to looking at the flower sadly, Ulquiorra's eyes examining her sad gaze, "I'm his concubine." Ulquiorra felt something drop in his stomach but he shook his head quietly.

"I see." They were quiet for a few moments and Ulquiorra thought of something, "How about tomorrow, you and I go to the market? I think you need to get out of the household for a bit." Ulquiorra offered and he saw Orihime's face brighten up.

"I'd love to! Thanks Schiffer-Sama." Orihime gushed as a messenger came by.

"Schiffer-Sama, you have some important documents to go over." Ulquiorra nodded as the messenger disappeared and Ulquiorra took Orihime's hand to his lips and brushed his lips over her knuckles.

"I shall see you tomorrow. Have a good afternoon Inoue-San." He turned on his heel and Orihime watched Ulquiorra walk away, she swallowed the lump in her throat.

'_I only love Ichigo, I only love Ichigo.' _She repeated to herself as she walked on.

**Author's note: How's that for you? Like it? Comment and review! Read, enjoy, and review. See you guys later! **


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: I'm back and the only reason why I was delayed was because my computer which I wrote everything on crashed on me finally. LOL. More like I dropped it on the floor. LOL. :'D So let's get on with it?**

By the way, answer this question for me: Is it wrong to be honest with an author about the mistakes of their story and how they could improve their story? I gave an author some constructive criticism a couple of weeks ago and his/her loyal fans all fought with me on how I was being rude and that I was calling the author a bad writer, which I did not. -_- Can't even be honest on this damn site anymore. 

**Infertile Love: **

Ichigo stretched his arms and a smile formed on his lips. Working out any kinks, his hand reached over to try to reach to Rukia. He felt her soft body and brought her closer to him. He opened his eyes and saw her already dressed in her white sleeping wear.

His hand smoothed over her curves as he brought his head closer to kiss her head.

"When did you wake up?" Rukia fluttered her eyes open and rotated her body to look at him and smiled.

"An hour ago, I'm glad you sleep like a bear in hibernation." Ichigo and Rukia laughed quietly as his hand reached down to grab hers. He brought it back up so her hand could touch his cheek. She smiled as he released her hand and moved to sling an arm around her hip.

"Are you okay from last night?" Ichigo asked and Rukia rolled her eyes playfully as she moved her leg to wrap around his waist as best as she could.

"Yeah, I don't hurt anywhere, it's not like I haven't been in bed with you before." She slinked out of their bed and slid the shoji doors open to her personal garden. The flowers bloomed vibrantly and the pond filled with copious amounts of baby koi was bright and clear. She stood in her place and crossed her arms across her chest and stared at the scenery.

She heard him slip out of their bed and pull on a white robe she had laid on his bedside for easy access. Pulling it on, he tied the sash lazily as he walked towards her. Putting both of his arms around her shoulders, he pressed his lips lightly against her head.

"What does this mean for us?" She leaned into Ichigo's body and he put his chin on her shoulder.

"A real married couple?" A chuckle escaped from his lips, Rukia lightly smacked his stomach.

"I need to tell you the truth about something." Ichigo kissed her shoulder.

"What is it?" Rukia closed her eyes as her hands wandered to her stomach.

"Remember when it was your birthday two years ago?" She felt Ichigo nod as an answer to her question.

"Yeah, you almost got killed." They both froze at his cold and dark voice. Rukia grabbed his hand and turned to face him.

"She said you had a lot of bleeding and you were going to have abdominal pain for quite a bit." Rukia gripped his hand and she looked at him. "That was the first birthday I shared with you as a married couple." His fingers loosely twined with hers and he smiled at her.

"I remember a couple of weeks later after our wedding night, I started to get sick. So I had Unohana pay me a visit just to check up on me." Ichigo was thoroughly confused, but decided to listen to what Rukia had to say. Rukia looked away from him.

"She ran a few tests and I found out some surprising news." Ichigo cocked his head to the side and arched a brow. Rukia smiled weakly. "Ichigo, I found out I was pregnant." Ichigo widened his eyes and felt his hand slip off of her. She swallowed and turned her back to Ichigo and looked sadly out at her garden.

"Then, that whole thing with Aaroniero happened." Ichigo looked at her sadly and put his hand around her waist.

"What happened to the baby?" Rukia slipped her hands down her stomach and found Ichigo's hands right there as well.

"As you probably already know, the damage that Aaroniero did to me hurt the baby and I ended up having a miscarriage. It was only two months old." Ichigo gripped Rukia's hands and placed his chin on top of her head.

"We have all the time in the world to try again." Ichigo said quietly as he kissed the top of her head and Rukia smiled as they looked out in the garden.

_Flashback: _

_Rukia lay on the ground, her kimono ripped into shreds in different areas. Using her weak hands to try to support herself as Aaroniero stood above her with his sword touching her neck. _

"_I've got you where I want you Kurosaki-san." Aaroniero said darkly as he flicked his sword to lean closer to her neck. Rukia glared up at him, her makeup smeared and face dirty._

"You'll never have me." Rukia winced painfully as she thought of her baby. She was just on her way to pick up some strawberries for Ichigo when Aaroniero grabbed her and beat her up. She was going to surprise Ichigo with her pregnancy for his birthday. She struggled to keep her tears away and kept up a strong feat.

"I think you're in no position to talk." Aaroniero used his sword and began dragging it forcefully through her expensive mauve kimono. Rukia cursed herself for letting Aaroniero break Shirayuki. Rukia lifted up her palms as she chanted the incantation in her head. 

"_Sai!" Rukia yelled as Aaroniero was temporarily paralyzed but he managed to quickly escape. His face contorted in anger._

"Sorry, that isn't working; you're all out of options." Aaroniero kicked her in the stomach and Rukia felt blood spit out of her mouth and her eyes widen as she felt the pain in her stomach. 

_Rukia lay on her side and grabbed onto Shirayuki. "This has to work." She heard Aaroniero come closer to her and bend down so that he was on the floor looking at her. _

"_You look a lot prettier when you're all bruised up. Too bad this is the last thing Ichigo will see you as, but I have to do what I want to do first before I kill you off." Aaroniero moved his hand to rip off Rukia's kimono but not before feeling something icy cold impale him directly in the heart._

"San no mai, Shirafune," Rukia breathed heavily as Aaroniero looked down at Rukia's newly formed sword impaling him. "I guess I didn't run out of options. Men like you disgust me." Rukia snarled as she pulled out her sword and Aaroniero slumped to the floor and Rukia formed a hand around her stomach and blacked out.

Rukia fluttered her eyes open a couple of hours later with Ichigo holding her hand. Rukia shifted painfully as she looked at Ichigo.

"Rukia, thank god you're awake." Rukia felt weak and opened her parched mouth.

"I want to talk to Unohana." Rukia slid a hand down to her stomach and Ichigo nodded as he got up and called for Unohana. Unohana came in immediately and smiled at Rukia.

"I'm glad to see you're awake Kurosaki-Sama." Rukia looked at Ichigo and raised her hand up to him.

"Can you leave me and Unohana alone for just a bit?" Ichigo nodded and closed the door behind him. Rukia dropped her hand and heard the thud that it produced. Rukia's face turned more serious.

"How is my baby?" Rukia asked and Unohana's smile dropped, Rukia's eyes widening.

"Unohana-san, please tell me." Rukia begged and Unohana sat down on Rukia's bedside and grasped Rukia's hand in her own.

"I'm afraid dear I couldn't do anything to save the baby. The impact of your attacker's kick to your abdomen made you lose the baby. I'm sorry Kurosaki-Sama." Rukia felt her lip tremble and felt tears trickle down her face. She looked around the room and wiped away the tears flowing down, but more rolled down.  
Unohana grasped Rukia's hand tighter as Rukia began to sob quietly as she ducked her head down and put her hands on her stomach.

-Flashback end-

"We should go down and have breakfast." Rukia said as she came back from her flashback and Ichigo leaned over so he could see her face.

"That would be a lovely idea," Rukia felt his hands go onto her back and grasp onto the back of her legs and felt him lift her up, "Except we're dirty, so we should go take a bath." Rukia and Ichigo laughed as he carried her lithe body to the washing rooms and shut the door behind him.

-Currently:

Orihime spun her parasol as her and Ulquiorra walked around the busy market place. Orihime was looking at some calligraphy brushes and ink. Orihime picked up an expensive set and examined and turned to look at Ulquiorra.

"Did you think Ichigo-Sama would like this?" Ulquiorra came closer and looked at what Orihime was holding. Ulquiorra waved his hand to signify it was pointless. "

"That man has the worst hand writing I've ever seen in my life. He doesn't appreciate calligraphy, but someone who would like that is Ichigo's wife." Orihime tightened her hold on the calligraphy set, why was Rukia so involved with _everything_?

"Fine then, what about this nice tea cup set with sakura flowers on it?" Orihime held up the tea cup and Ulquiorra looked at it.

"Rukia got that for him on his birthday. It's the only girly thing that Kurosaki ever liked." Orihime winced and slammed down the tea set, Ulquiorra didn't flinch.

"What is with Rukia and why is she so special to _him_?" Orihime nearly yelled and Ulquiorra looked down at the ground, realizing it was partly his fault for letting her feel this way.

"Inoue-san, if you need a reminder, Kurosaki-san is his wife." Ulquiorra stated and Orihime whirled around to glare at him.

"She doesn't even love him." Ulquiorra looked at her as he faced away from her, looking at the different vendors selling fruits or their products, he got an apple and examined the apple.

"Not everything is as it seems. Their relationship used to be different before you came along, you can ask around." Orihime arched a brow and saw the perfect apple.

"But that apple -." She was cut off when she caught the flying apple and held it in her hands. She turned it around and saw the seemingly perfect apple had a hole dug into the bottom with the worm's tail sticking out of the hole. Orihime screeched as she dropped the apple and kicked it away from her.

"How could you?" Orihime asked as Ulquiorra turned and gestured for her to follow him.

"Like I said, things are not the way they seem. Come along now, I'll go get you some better apples." Orihime grumbled as she followed him.

-Later-

Orihime walked down the halls, she had already asked the servants to put away the items she had purchased today. She was still thinking about what Ulquiorra had said to her and decided to ask the next maid she saw.

Orihime walked past the kitchen and saw Rukia's personal maid polishing the furniture. The maid looked up at Orihime and gulped, she knew Orihime had a bit of a temper problem and feared for herself.

"Yes Inoue-Sama?" Orihime flipped her long orange hair to fall behind her and walked towards the maid.

"Have you seen Kurosaki-Sama anywhere?" Orihime asked and the maid looked up at the ceiling as she thought for a minute.

"Well, Kurosaki-Sama and Lady Kurosaki-Sama did step out for a while to eat lunch and then they both departed to go to their annual visit to see the park of magnolia, cherry, and plum blossoms trees. They didn't come out of their bedroom until lunch time." The maid smiled, but Orihime was displeased greatly.

"They didn't come out until lunch, why?" Orihime pondered and the maid looked down at the floor and smiled as she picked up an antique decoration tea set and began wiping it clean.

"Well, Kurosaki-Sama did leave a note saying that they were to be undisturbed for the night and the morning." Orihime tightened her hands into fists as she realized what Ichigo and Rukia had been up to last night.

"Is that going to be all Inoue-Sama?" The maid asked and Inoue remembered what Ulquiorra had said.

"What was the two's relationship before I came into the household?" Orihime asked and felt nervous as the maid opened her mouth to answer.

"It was quite lovely actually. You could tell they were so happy to be with each other, and to be married to each other. They were best friends before entering the marriage, and were in love. They did almost everything together, yelled playfully, and always did their best to keep the household happy. Sometimes, if they thought the maids or servants weren't looking, they would share a kiss or two and that would be it. They showed their affection for each other in small ways." Orihime felt saddened by the information that was being presented to her.

The maid went on, "When Kurosaki-Sama announced he would be bringing you into the household, the two had dwindled into a hostile relationship with each other. I remember hearing them fight about it. I guess they rekindled their romance." The maid said dreamily and Inoue heard her knuckles cracking from how tightly her hands were fisted.

"You may go now." Orihime commanded sharply and the maid bowed and went back to her duties. Orihime walked down the hall fiercely to her room.

_'I can't be losing. He was in love with me, I was sure of it.' _Orihime went into her room and slammed the shoji doors behind her and grabbed her large mirror sitting on her dresser. She realized that she was crying and touched the wet tears trailing down her face. She wiped them away and gripped the mirror harder and furrowed her brows.

"I'm so tired, but I can't lose," Orihime smiled and saw through the wet tears clouding her vision, "I _won't_ lose."

**Author's note: Finally I got this done! It took me like 4 hours to write this! I'm in China which is pretty exciting! I should probably go now. Please read, review, and stuff! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's note: Hi there, I'm almost going back to school, so I thought I would get a chapter in! I'm also in the process of putting up a new story, so, please stick around for that! By the way, I sense a lot of you guys don't like that I'm incorporating Ulquiorra and Orihime moments in the story, but just deal with it okay? Jeez. **

**Infertile Love:  
**

Orihime felt her nails digging into her palms painfully as she ate quietly, observing Ichigo and Rukia eating together side by side with a smile on their faces. He piled up food in Rukia's bowl, which he never did, especially once Orihime came into the picture.

Orihime ground her chopsticks into her bowl with a frown on her face; Ulquiorra observed her as he casually poured himself a cup of tea.

"Kurosaki-Sama, you haven't eaten much, would you like some of the meat prepared today?" Orihime asked as she picked up a piece but Ichigo waved her off.

"Thanks Orihime, but I'll pass." Orihime saddened as she was moving to put the piece of pork back into her bowl when she saw Rukia hitting him in the arm.

"Oh stop it Ichigo, you need to eat before we go out today." Rukia suggested as she put a piece of pork into Ichigo's bowl, Ichigo rolled his eyes as he put the pork in his mouth.

"Happy now?" Ichigo asked as they started laughing together, Orihime narrowed her eyes at them as Ulquiorra put in vegetables in Orihime's bowl.

"You're not eating much." Ulquiorra tried to ease Orihime's mood, she thanked him, and went on to glare at Rukia more during lunch.

Several days later:

Orihime was on her last nerve, she stormed around the hall, looking for Ichigo. She thought about the past couple of days and how she had to endure Ichigo's and Rukia's shows of affection for each other.

For example, a few days ago, Orihime tried to join in on Ichigo's stroll in the garden, knowing he would be alone.

_Flashback:_

Orihime smiled triumphantly, she had asked around to confirm if Ichigo as alone. He was alone, and Orihime was feeling happier than ever. Rukia had gone out to meet a jeweler to pick up her recent jewelry purchases. Orihime saw the light drizzling rain, and stepped outside where she saw Ichigo. A smile was on her face, as she brought the parasol up and over her head, her smile went into a frown. She saw Rukia's parasol lying on the floor while Ichigo had Rukia in his arms. They were laughing at something; he balanced Rukia in one arm, while picking up her parasol, swinging it over their heads, heading out to their room. Orihime stood in the rain, but saw a slight shadow go over her, she looked up to see a dark blue parasol hanging over her head. Seeing Ulquiorra's pale white hand holding the parasol made her ease up her frown.

"Come inside Inoue-San, you shouldn't stand out in the rain without a parasol." Orihime nodded as Ulquiorra placed a hand on her back, walking her back inside the house hold.

Flashback end:

Orihime slid open a shoji door, leading into another long hallway, she began walking through it. Thinking about what she saw two days ago when she peered into Ichigo's office.

_Orihime slid open Ichigo's office doors, just a tiny crack to see if Ichigo was busy. He indeed was though. Orihime watched with jealousy as she observed Ichigo and Rukia. Rukia was holding a fat, white rabbit in her hands, cooing at it. Ichigo had his arms crossed over his chest, watching Rukia be happy was the best thing for him. Orihime saw a genuine smile on their faces. Orihime gripped the shoji doors. Rukia put the rabbit back in the cage, locking it into place as she hugged Ichigo, while giving him a kiss which he gladly returned._

Orihime saw the shoji doors close in front of her, as she was being pulled away. Orihime looked, seeing Ulquiorra gently towing her by his side.

"You're never going to be happy if you keep on watching them be happy together." Orihime didn't have an answer or retort for him, so she just went along with him.

Orihime also couldn't forget last night.

_She stood proudly in front of her vanity mirror. Admiring how good her body looked in the short and red silken robe she had purchased just for Ichigo. She applied some sweet smelling perfume on her neck, smoothing her hands over her hair. Half of it was pinned up in buns with combs, the bottom half of her hair left down to reach her lower back. Slipping on her house sandals, she quietly exited her room. It was late at night, she knew Ichigo would be awake, and she knew Rukia was taking a bath right now._

Orihime giggled to herself as she blew a few strands of her burnt orange hair out of her face. No one was here, there was a long hall separating Ichigo and Rukia's room from the rest of the household. She slid apart the shoji doors to see Ichigo sitting on the bed, without his robes on. His pants were the only thing on. He was reading a scroll, but Rukia was standing right in front of the bed. Orihime cursed herself; she was so sure Rukia wouldn't be out for at least another hour.

She looked through her small crack. To see Rukia dressed in a silken white robe, that reached mid-thigh, tied loosely, Rukia's hands fiddling with the sash tying it all together.

"Ichigo?" Rukia called out, Ichigo looked up, a smile instantly on his face.

"You look nice." Rukia smiled as she played with her sash some more.

"I just got it; I thought you'd like it." Ichigo rolled up his scroll, tying it while putting on the desk nearby their bed.

"I do like it, now, come on to bed." Rukia shook her head as she laughed. Her hands now began working with the sash to untie it.

"I thought I'd surprise you." Rukia untied her sash, letting the robe fall apart in front of him, Orihime watched as Ichigo widened his eyes in shock. Orihime saw Ichigo climb off the bed, going to Rukia, caressing her shoulder.

"At least I don't have to work to get everything off." Ichigo kissed Rukia, carrying her up into his arms, and placing her onto the bed. Orihime sucked in her lip as she puckered them back out in anger. She closed the shoji doors and turned around to see Ulquiorra with his sleeping garments on.

"You shouldn't be spying on them." Ulquiorra said as he held out his arm for her. He watched as Orihime put her hand under her eyes to restrain herself from crying.

"Don't cry, it doesn't suit you, I'll take you back to your room." Orihime looped her arm around his as she began crying silently in anger and sadness. He walked her back to her room and made sure she went to bed before going back to his own room.

Orihime looked into Ichigo's office only to see Rukia sitting on Ichigo's lap, embroidering a handkerchief for Ichigo while he worked on important documents. Orihime shook her head as she looked away, and closed the doors.

Orihime walked away, walking so fast she didn't realize she was standing in front of Ulquiorra's room. She looked into the thick shoji doors.

"Schiffer-Sama, are you there?" Ulquiorra opened the door and gestured for her to come in. He shut the doors behind her and went to attend to Orihime.

Orihime came out of Ulquiorra's room, feeling slightly better. Orihime saw Rukia down in to the bathroom, Orihime discreetly followed Rukia. A few moments later, Orihime heard a sound that seemed like Rukia had been throwing up.

Orihime hid herself as Rukia came out. Rukia wiped the corner of her mouth to make sure she didn't have anything remaining on her mouth. Orihime widened her eyes as Rukia's hands traveled down to her stomach. Rukia saw her head maid passing by. Orihime saw Rukia call out to the maid.

"Call for doctor Unohana." Rukia ordered the head maid scurried off to do the orders she had just received. Orihime breathed heavily as she hid behind the pillar, keeping still.

_'If Rukia's pregnant, what am I going to do?' _

**Author's note: end! LOL. Sorry it's so short, but this was made up in like two days. Thank you, read and review! OPPA GANGNAM STYLE :'D**__


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note: I'm back ya'll! I know it's been a long time, and I guess I've just been dealing with school and just trying to do the best I can. So sorry for not being able update frequently or anything, but education is very important!**

Before I start out this chapter, I do want to address something very quickly here.

I got a review – long story short, there input on this story was not a happy one indeed. But I can see their point, and to say the least, I was kind of sad myself when the reviewer made me have an epiphany.

To HellButterfly: Thank you for the criticism. Actually, your whole review and point was right. And to say the least, I think you do have a right to be disappointed. You disliking it or liking it, is totally up to you. When I had made this story, I had to hate for Orihime, I saw her weak and pathetic, and I used this story to bash her. I made this story when I was an immature writer and my views on cheating and relationships were very flawed, I was young when I made this story as well. My perception on cheating and this whole idea have changed as I have progressed with this story. Because you disliked it, and actually gave me a credible reason why, and a logical one too, I was happy to read your review, so thank you.  


**If you didn't want to read that crap, you can skip, because the chapter starts now!  
**

**Infertile love. Chapter 20  
**

Rukia clutched her stomach as she heaved again into the chamber pot. Dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her handkerchief, she replaced the lid onto the pot and walked away. Rukia smiled as she touched her stomach as she headed into the hall where breakfast was being served.

Dr. Unohana had confirmed a week ago that Rukia was pregnant for about a month or so. Rukia smiled as she made her way to the dining hall.

"You look pale, are you ill?" Ulquiorra's voice didn't affect Rukia's walk to the dining hall.

"I'm fine, I haven't been getting much sleep." Rukia flashed Ulquiorra as a smile as they continued their walk.

"You don't have to lie." Ulquiorra stopped alongside Rukia as Rukia stopped and looked up at him. A brief moment had passed; Rukia narrowed her eyes and looked around to make sure no one was around.

"Don't you dare say anything to Ichigo or Orihime, I'll tell them soon." Ulquiorra tilted his head in confusion.

"But it would be a joyous occasion for the household to learn that you are with child." Ulquiorra said quietly, Rukia sighed as she looked down at the ground.

"I'm telling Ichigo as a surprise since the winter season is almost here, and I'm not sure if Orihime's even ready to hear news like this." Ulquiorra sighed as he raised a brow at Rukia.

"Why do you think so?" Rukia's brow arched ever so slightly.

"She's his concubine, if you haven't noticed; she's been trying to take the position as head wife ever since Ichigo brought her around. I don't think she would handle the pregnancy well." Ulquiorra opened the doors for Rukia.

"You think she would not like it?" Rukia shrugged her shoulders.

"In all honesty, I think she'd hate it. She hates me; I don't think it would be wise. Thank you." Rukia walked into the hall and took her place next to Ichigo, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You took long today, good morning Ulquiorra." Ichigo greeted as Ulquiorra nodded, Ulquiorra sat down next to Orihime as the servant poured Rukia and Ulquiorra tea.

"I hope you slept pleasantly." Orihime greeted and Ulquiorra nodded as he put a bit of meat in his mouth.

"Yes I did, I hope you did as well." Orihime's cheeks were tinted with a slight blush. Rukia saw in the interaction and arched a brow. She shrugged it off and felt Ichigo cough slightly.

"I hope you have nothing planned today Rukia, I plan on taking you out today." Rukia smacked his chest lightly as she smiled.

"Of course not, I'd love to go out today. We've been stuck in this house for days." Rukia heard Orihime cough ever so slightly at the plans.

"Well actually Kurosaki-Sama, I was hoping you would have free time today, I wanted to go take you somewhere as well." Ichigo was surprised and bit his lip nervously.

"I'm sorry Orihime, I already have something arranged for Rukia, and it's a surprise, maybe next time all four of us can go out." Orihime was disappointed as she slightly cursed Rukia, and when Ichigo wasn't looking, she sent Rukia a withering glare. Rukia acknowledged it, but to Orihime's displeasure, ignored it as she kept on eating.

"Don't worry Orihime; I have something planned for us as well." Orihime nodded, secretly glaring at Rukia. Rukia had not noticed it at all. Orihime sighed as Ichigo got up, bringing up Rukia with him and brushed off the dust off his robes.

"We're going to be leaving now." Ichigo and Rukia left as the maids began clearing out the table. Ulquiorra saw Orihime glare angrily at her hands in her lap. Ulquiorra sighed inwardly.

"I was thinking maybe we could go have a picnic?" Ulquiorra asked, Orihime looked up at him, her angry eyes melting away.

"Sure, we can, I can cook for us!" She cheered happily, Ulquiorra shook his head.

"Maybe you shouldn't worry about the cooking today, come along, we should go make the menu for our picnic." Ulquiorra got up as he held onto Orihime's hand to help her up as well. With his hand on her lower back, he led them into the kitchen.

Meanwhile:

Rukia looked out into the secluded grassy hill they were on. Sitting on a cheap, but comfortable blanket that could afford to get dirty, Rukia played the koto. The song matching the upcoming winter weather, but the pleasant and slightly warm fall weather they were experiencing.

Ichigo leaned on his side, watching Rukia play the melodic tune.

"Your abilities haven't changed at all. It's still beautiful." Rukia looked at him and smiled as she stopped and poured him a cup of tea.

"Thanks, you still listen intently." Ichigo sat up to drink the tea that Rukia had offered. Gathering her in his arms so she would lay on him, they sat comfortably as they sipped their tea. Ichigo moved her simple kimono so it wouldn't get dirty.

"Oh just leave it, it's going to be fine if it gets a little dirt on it." Ichigo snorted as he ran his hands through her hair.

"What did Dr. Unohana say about your sickness?" Rukia sipped on her tea as she shrugged, a hand slipping to her stomach.

"Well, she said it was just a minor thing, I'll get over it soon. I'm already feeling better." Rukia saw Ichigo lean down to kiss her, she leaned forward and felt their lips touch. She pulled herself away as she closed her eyes and leaned into Ichigo. Rukia felt Ichigo lean away from her, and then felt being pinned to the ground. Rukia opened up her eyes to see Ichigo hovering over her. She rolled her eyes while smiling.

"We're in public." He kissed her.

"No one's here, I made sure of it." Rukia brought both hands to circle around his neck.

"I'm a noble woman still. It's indecent." Ichigo rolled his eyes as he went down to kiss her again.

"Since when is having coitus even considered decent wherever you do it?" He kissed her again, and that was the end of their conversation.

Meanwhile:

"Are you still hungry?" Ulquiorra asked as Orihime finished the last rice ball in their little picnic basket.

"No I'm fine. Thanks for taking me out Schiffer-Sama." Ulquiorra and Orihime's legs dangled off of the small grassy cliff they were on that overlooked the bustling market area.

"I'd appreciate it if you would just call me Schiffer-san. Schiffer-Sama seems too serious between us." Orihime flashed him a smile and twiddled her fingers together.

"If that is what you want Schiffer-san." Ulquiorra put his hands in his lap.

"Inoue-san, do you feel happy in the Kurosaki household?" Ulquiorra saw the shocked stare that Orihime gave him at the sudden question.

"O-of course. Why would you ask something like that?" Ulquiorra had noticed the slight stutter and the hesitation that had come before her answer.

"Because it doesn't look like you do. You look like you're struggling to fight for your place in the residence." Orihime became silent as she heard his words.

"I'm always happy to be around Kurosaki-Sama." Ulquiorra shook his head as he sipped on his tea.

"Why though, he doesn't even care about you anymore." Orihime shot him a withering glare, Ulquiorra brushed it off.

"Why are you being so mean?" Orihime's eyes filled with tears, Ulquiorra leaned in closer to her face to stare at her.

"Because I think you deserve at least a little bit better. You don't need to pine and try to become Kurosaki's new wife; your chance is already over. You could easily become the head wife of another family." Orihime looked up at him.

"And where would I find that? Everybody knows me as his concubine already." Ulquiorra shrugged.

"I want you to be mine." Ulquiorra leaned in and pressed his lips against Orihime's, trying to convey his feelings for her. She leaned in, but then immediately broke apart. Ulquiorra backed away.

"I can't. I love Kurosaki-Sama." Orihime put her hands in her lap and looked down. Ulquiorra nodded as he got up.

"I see then, come along, we should go." Ulquiorra got up, extending a hand to Orihime which she hesitantly took. She released the grip on his hand as she stood up.

Their walk back was silent.

Afterwards:

Orihime and Ulquiorra walked in silence as they entered the kitchen.

"Thank you for the meal. I'll be in my room if you need me." Ulquiorra dropped off the basket with the dirty plates and tea cups in the kitchen. "I'll see you at dinner Inoue-san." Ulquiorra left without another word. Orihime looked at his figure as he walked away. She sighed sadly. Ichigo and Rukia enter. An arm wrapped around her slim waist as she carried the small basket they carried.

"I hope you had a good time with Ulquiorra." Ichigo greeted to Orihime as Ichigo whispered something into Rukia's ear, making her laugh. Rukia went up to the cook and gave the cook a thank you for the meal and patted Ichigo's chest.

"I need to go to the bathroom. I'll see you in your office." Ichigo kissed her and went off. Orihime noticed Rukia's quickened pace and followed her silently after bidding Ichigo goodbye.

Orihime followed Rukia silently to the chamber pot room and saw Rukia inhale quickly as she opened the lid to the chamber pot and threw up in it. Rukia replaced the lid and dabbed at the corners of her mouth. Rukia straightened up and began to walk out. Orihime immediately stood in front of her.

Rukia was shocked, but composed herself again and cleared her throat.

"Is there something you need Orihime?" Orihime looked at Rukia's stomach and felt envy rising in her.

"Are you pregnant?" Orihime asked, Rukia then gripped Orihime's wrist and dragged her somewhere more secretive.

"Yes, I am. But Orihime, I'm warning you, please don't get in the way of our pregnancy." Orihime widened her eyes in anger.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Orihime hissed, Rukia looked away and looked back at Orihime.

"I know you hate me, and you've been trying to take my place as the wife of this house. Orihime, this is something that would make Ichigo really happy. I've been pregnant once, but I let him down and due to some conditions, I lost the baby. This is the only thing we have together besides our whole marriage and love, it's time to make him have the family he always wanted." Orihime felt envy bubble up inside her.

"You think I'm going to ruin this?" Orihime asked, Rukia crossed her arms across her chest.

"I know you've tried to kill me before; I know all of those attempts were you." Orihime opened her mouth.

"That was not-." Rukia cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"Please don't lie to me. I know it was you. You don't have to lie about it." Orihime became quiet and looked at Rukia.

"Orihime, I am willing to put everything in the past behind me, if you want, I'll give you money or something. But please don't ruin this for me and Ichigo's child. I want the baby to have a father. I want Ichigo to have the family he's already dreamed of." Orihime remained silent and stood staring at the ground.

"Please don't Orihime." Rukia begged silently, Orihime looked at Rukia and then immediately turned away from her and began walking away from Rukia. Rukia looked down at the ground and placed a hand on her still slim stomach.

Rukia walked away from the room as well.

Orihime had hid behind a wall and clasped a hand around her mouth as she began to cry tears of envy.

**Author's note: YES. I FINALLY GOT IT DONE. LOVE ME YOU GUYS. That was inappropriate. I hope you guys all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat a lot, drink a lot, and have fun! Love you all! Review for me!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: Hi guys! I'm back! Yeah, I updated all Winter Break except for this story – so I'm just working on this right now. I'm thinking about chopping it off in 5 more chapters. At least that'll get this done and over with. **

**Also, I've noticed something interesting, a lot of people have been more, and how shall I put it? A bit angrier at me every time I put a chapter up. Oh well. You guys are entitled to your own opinion. **

**Infertile Love: **

Rukia tapped a finger on chin as she looked at the arrangements of flowers placed in front of her for the Winter gathering they were doing in a couple of days. Rukia gave her decision to flowers that had been filled with white, blue, and purple.

"These will be perfect for winter colors. See to it that we get a hundred of these decorated into the gathering and dining hall. You are dismissed." Rukia got up and left the room. Rubbing her forehead a little bit, she had been stressed lately from all of the planning. Rukia put a hand on her still flat stomach and sighed.

Having her little chat with Orihime seemed to be for the better. Orihime took heed of Rukia's words and had backed off noticeably. Rukia still noticed the envious and malicious glares, but Orihime took no action against Rukia.

Everything seemed at peace, for once.

Rukia turned around to walk back into the house when she felt her face hit a hard chest. Rukia backed away and saw Ichigo waiting for her with a smile.

"Why aren't you wearing more clothes?" Ichigo asked as he draped his black haori over her shoulders, she rolled her eyes with a bit of amusement.

"Don't you remember? I'm fond of the winter season, and you should be inside, sending out invites for the Winter celebration next week." Ichigo sighed.

"Can't you just do it for me?" Ichigo pleaded with a sweet tone, Rukia put herself against him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You are too lazy my dear husband." Rukia teased, Ichigo gave her a pouty look and she began laughing.

"Come inside, you don't have to do anything else out here, right?" Ichigo asked, Rukia shook her head.

"I was about to come inside actually." Rukia felt herself being lifted off of the ground as Ichigo swung her up into his arms.

"Great, because I wanted to spend some time with you." Ichigo whispered as he began carrying her inside of the house and to their room.

Orihime watched from far away and felt her heart crumbling. Her fists clenched in anger, she felt so envious of Rukia's and Ichigo's newfound love for each other. All she wanted was for Ichigo to give her his heart.

"You know, watching will only make things worse." Orihime whirled around to see Ulquiorra staring at her with his hands tucked in his pants.

"I need to figure out how to break them up again." Orihime whispered as Ulquiorra looked straight at her.

"Give up, there's nothing else you can do anymore. It's obvious he's never going to return to you." Orihime's nails dug into the flesh of her palms in anger.

"I can always try." Ulquiorra closed his eyes.

"You could always take me up on my offer to be my wife." Orihime stared at Ulquiorra with sadness; she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I only love Ichigo." Ulquiorra scoffed at her words.

"Oh yes, so that's why you came to visit my bedroom for the past few weeks late at night." Ulquiorra felt a sharp pain in his cheek as he opened his eyes to see Orihime's red face.

"I only love _Ichigo_." Orihime insisted as her teeth ground together. "You will not speak of our activities ever again." Ulquiorra began walking past her.

"If that's what you wish, I wish you the best of luck in love. You're going to need it." Ulquiorra walked away and Orihime forced herself not to look at the back of his head as he walked away. The tears stung her eyes.

"_I'll never love you Ulquiorra. Ichigo is the one for me. I'm sure of it. I'll steal Ichigo away from Rukia. " _

Meanwhile:

Rukia felt Ichigo's finger run down her spine gently, his fingers feeling the indent of her vertebrae. Rukia shifted so she could face Ichigo. She smiled at him as she yawned.

"How long was I asleep for?" Ichigo wrapped an arm around her as he brought her close to him.

"Only half an hour. You didn't sleep long." Rukia nodded as she saw a board with ink and paper on it, Ichigo was working on the invites. Rukia reached over and took the board in her hands and she picked up the brush and started working on the invites.

"I see your handwriting is as sloppy as ever." Ichigo propped his face on his fist as he lay idly, watching Rukia's bare form working on the invites.

"You know I never cared for things like handwriting." Rukia laughed quietly as she faced him.

"I can tell." Rukia watched Ichigo's eyes soften as he stared right back at her, and his small smile had disappeared into a frown. "What's the matter?" Rukia asked as she turned around to face him completely. The blankets slipped away from her, revealing her all natural form to him.

Ichigo ran a hand through his spikes and sighed as he looked away from her.

"Sometimes I look at you now, and all I feel like an idiot for leaving someone as perfect as you. I don't even know what I was thinking. I didn't even understand fully that I hurt you when I brought Orihime in the household and made her my concubine. I feel so guilty for being the purpose of you being unhappy with your life as my wife and heading this household." Ichigo admitted, Rukia extended her hand to lay on top of his.

"Don't worry, it's in the past. I think I've been the happiest right now with you than I have been with my entire life. Even though I'm still in the process of forgiving you, I still love you more than anything. I've loved you for the longest time Ichigo, even as best friends, and now lovers. I'll still love you." Ichigo moved his hand from under hers and gripped her hand gently as he ran his thumb tenderly over the smooth flesh of her hand.

"I'm really sorry Rukia, I know I messed up." Ichigo said quietly, Rukia leaned down to kiss him fully.

"It'll be okay. You've been good to me for the past months, I can see you're trying to show me that you regret what you've done and that you want to make it up to me. I see the effort, and it's not being dismissed." Ichigo nuzzled the crook of her neck and pulled her close to him so her backside aligned up with his chest.

"I'm glad; I just want to show you that I love you and only you." Ichigo kissed her shoulder blade and intertwined their fingers together. They just laid there in comfortable silence for the rest of the afternoon.

_**2 Weeks later: **_

_**Winter Celebration: **_

"You do realize you're going to rip out all of my hair if you keep on pinning my hair wrong." Rukia joked as Ichigo tried to stick in the last hairpin to Rukia's elaborate hair style.

"You know what, I'm a man, and therefore I shouldn't have to deal with this kind of shit." Ichigo grumbled as he finally got the last pin stuck in place. Stepping away from Rukia so Rukia could check the back of her hair, she gave it a small nod of approval and got up. Turning around she faced Ichigo.

"Ready for the celebration?" Rukia asked as she went to fix and straighten Ichigo's robes and haori so they wouldn't look lopsided.

"I'm always ready for company my dear." Ichigo held out his arm as Rukia lightly clutched it.

"Well then, lead the way." Ichigo and Rukia exited the doors to their bedroom and began walking to the main dining room. They opened the doors to the main dining room and a smile came across their faces as they saw the crowd of people they had invited all conversing with each other. Rukia and Ichigo turned to each other.

"See you when we all start eating?" Ichigo asked and Rukia gave him a knowing smile.

"Of course." Rukia stood on her tip toes; Ichigo leaned down to kiss her before they took their separate ways.

Rukia saw Ichigo already mingling with his crowd of friends and Rukia made her way towards her friends.

"Hello Rukia!" Rangiku, one of Rukia's best friends jumped out of the small clique of women talking and gave Rukia a bone crushing hug.

"Oh your party is just spectacular!" Rangiku said as Rukia gasped for air between Rangiku's rather large chest.

"Oh why thank you," Rukia choked out.

"Oh stop it Rangiku, you're choking her!" Another voice called out, Rukia felt relief as Rangiku was pulled away from her by Nanao.

"Thank you Nanao." Rukia brushed off her elaborate kimono and smiled at all of her friends. "I'm so glad you all came." Momo, Rangiku, and Nanao nodded back with bright smiles.

"Of course! Now, what is this surprise you said you had?" Momo asked and Rukia winked at her.

"You'll know after dinner. Tea?" Rukia asked as a servant came up with a platter of snacks and tea. Rukia seated her friends and herself at a small table where a servant began setting up. Once they were all comfortable, Rangiku rested on her palms and lay back a little.

"So, do you still have that concubine around?" Rangiku asked causing Rukia to shoot her a withering glare.

"How do you know that?" Rukia asked, Rangiku gave her a defensive look.

"It's been the gossip around all of the nobles; you surely couldn't have expected that it wouldn't get around." Rukia took a sip of her tea.

"I didn't expect, I hoped. Well, if you must know, I and Ichigo have patched up our marriage, so she's just here as company I guess. I think Ulquiorra has taken quite the interest in her though." Momo nodded.

"Well I'm glad, last time I was here things were hostile between you, Ichigo, and Orihime." Rangiku sat up and her face lit up.

"So that's her name! I've wanted to see what her name was for the longest time!" Rangiku exclaimed and Rukia stuffed a pastry in Rangiku's mouth.

"Well, my relationship towards Orihime has been…rough and stressful." Rangiku munched on the meat pastry in her mouth.

"I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm." Rangiku swallowed the last of the pastry and saw Rukia shake her head.

"Unfortunately the last few months have been torture. She's been trying to take my place as Ichigo's wife, but I've talked it out with her and she's desisted since then." Rangiku shrugged her shoulders as she felt somebody tap her on the shoulder. It was Rangiku's husband, Gin.

"What's wrong Gin?" Rangiku asked as Gin held out his arms and presented their newly born son to her.

"Take him, he won't stop crying and I've tried everything to comfort him." Gin said as Rangiku scoffed and took the newborn in her arms.

"Maybe it's because he realizes what a horrible father you are," Rangiku then brought the newborn up to her and face and cooed, "Isn't that right Akatsuki?" Gin rolled his eyes playfully as he kneeled down to kiss Rangiku on the lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you honey." Rangiku separated her lips from his and smiled.

"I love you too, now go on and play with your friends." Rangiku waved him off as Gin gave her a last kiss and walked off. Rangiku's touch instantly lulled the crying baby into silence.

"You're such a great mother." Rukia poured more sake for Rangiku and Rangiku smiled down at her child.

"It takes a lot of learning, but Akatsuki is so precious to me and Gin." Rangiku kissed her child on the forehead and cradled him in one arm so she could use a free hand to drink the sake Rukia had poured for her.

The group tenderly smiled at the child when a bell rang. Rukia stood up and the hall went quiet. Ichigo walked over and joined Rukia.

"We would like to thank you all for being here, dinner is being served now, thank you." The chattering started again as Ichigo faced Rukia.

"How was your chat with the ladies?" Ichigo asked as Rukia smiled at him as they intertwined fingers.

"Just girls being girls, don't worry about it." Ichigo bent down to kiss Rukia and Rukia elevated herself to meet Ichigo in between. Rukia looked to the side and saw her friends looking at Rukia and smiling. Once Ichigo and Rukia separated, Rukia saw that Orihime and Ulquiorra had finally entered in the dining room and blended in perfectly with the moving crowd.

Ichigo and Rukia began walking to their place at the dinner table and sat down at their respectful places as everybody did the same.

**2 Hours later: **

Dinner had gone over smoothly and Rukia had been requested to play on her Koto. Rukia had gotten up and moved over to where her koto had been placed. She sat down in front of it and took a deep breath before she began playing.

The dining room had settled into a calmer atmosphere as her Koto playing filled out the entire room and people began listening intently while making a small chat.

Rukia had finished her piece after several minutes and made her way back to the dinner table with an applause following her.

"All of you are so kind, please, that was not one of my finer pieces." Kyouraku held up his sake dish and laughed.

"Oh nonsense Kurosaki-san, that was one of the best pieces we've heard!" Rukia laughed as Ichigo filled up her cup with more tea and smiled at her. Ichigo cleared his throat loudly, capturing everybody's attention.

"I believe my beautiful wife wanted to say a few words to all of us." Ichigo said as Rukia nodded as she got up holding her tea cup. She nervously inhaled and exhaled while holding out her tea cup.

"Well, my husband and I are very glad that all of you could come out and celebrate the beginning of Winter with us. We are very pleased to see those that came tonight. I also waited for this occasion to tell my husband something that I've been hiding from him for a few weeks. I thought now was probably a good time to share since I want to share the happy news with friends. Unfortunately our families could not make it to this celebration." Rukia saw all eyes on her and felt extremely nervous as she turned slightly to face Ichigo.

"Ichigo, I've been hiding something from you in the past few weeks." Ichigo arched a brow at her.

"Rukia, please tell me it's not something bad." Ichigo said seriously, Rukia laughed slightly.

"It's quite the opposite," Rukia then turned away from him and faced their friends.

"Well friends, I am fortunate to tell all of you that I am now pregnant." Everybody's eyes widened and their jaws fell open. Rukia laughed nervously as she drank from her tea cup and saw Ichigo stand up.

"You're not mad at me right?" Rukia asked as she noted the silent crowd. Ichigo laughed nervously and slipped his arms around her waist.

"How could I be mad? I love you so much." Ichigo said as he lifted her up into the air and kissed Rukia on the lips. Their friends started clapping and shouting their congratulations to the happy couple.

**Meanwhile: **

Orihime looked at the happy couple. She was the only one who wasn't clapping or offering a congratulation to Ichigo and Rukia. Orihime felt hot tears slip down from her grey orbs and her lip started quivering. Orihime's nails dugs into the skin of her palms in anger and in bitter jealousy.

'_Now Ichigo won't be in love with me anymore, I lost to her…' _Orihime felt something pressed on her cheeks. She flashed to reality and saw Ulquiorra pressing his silk handkerchief to her wet cheeks.

"Thanks." Orihime muttered as she took it and began dabbing at her tears. Ulquiorra slowly clapped for the couple and then got up so he could whisper in her ear.

"You know where to find me if you need me." Ulquiorra stood up completely and then began making his way towards Ichigo.

"Congratulations to you both. I am happy for the both of you." Ulquiorra said as Ichigo nodded and smiled at him.

"Thanks Ulquiorra, it means a lot." Ulquiorra walked out of the hall and heard soft footsteps trailing behind him.

Ulquiorra turned around and saw Orihime standing there, her tears now splashing on her soft grey and blue kimono.

Ulquiorra held out his hand towards her, and wasn't surprised when Orihime crashed into him.

"Take me away." Orihime whispered as he took her hand and began leading her back to his bedroom.

From far away, Rukia kept quiet and saw Orihime and Ulquiorra walking away together, Rukia smiled, and was happy with the possibility that Orihime would probably never bother Rukia and Ichigo ever again.

**Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, I just, I've just been lazy. Sorry guys ): But I'm glad I'm almost done with this story! Remember to review and leave me some love or a comment, thanks guys! (: **


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note: Hey guys! I am back, tomorrow's my birthday, so I thought I'd just write because…well…I'm bored right now, and yeah! :'D **

**Infertile Love: **

Rangiku rubbed her eyes, hoping to rub away the drowsiness she felt. It was late at night, after the party, and Rangiku was currently holding her son in her arms. Her son had woken up her and her husband, and Rangiku could only figure he needed to be refreshed.

Rangiku found the area where all the chamber pots were kept, and rested her baby on the table that was provided in the area. Rangiku began freshening up her baby, and making sure her baby became comfortable again.

Rangiku let a yawn escape, but Rangiku's ears perked up as she heard quiet sobs near her. Rangiku picked up her tiny infant and made sure her son stayed quiet. Rangiku quietly followed the sobs and saw Orihime on her knees, crying quietly, her eyes red. Rangiku cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Are you alright?" Rangiku whispered quietly, Orihime stopped her sobs and stood up to face Rangiku. Wiping her face with Ulquiorra's silk handkerchief, she gave a small smile.

"Yes, I'm fine. You're one of Rukia's friends, right?" Rangiku raised an eyebrow at the disrespect that Orihime shown towards Rukia's name. But Rangiku shook it off since Orihime was crying.

"Yes, and you are?" Rangiku asked as her baby made small whimpering sounds , and Rangiku began rocking her arms gently to calm her baby. Orihime looked at Rangiku's baby, and wish she had a child of her own, the one she wanted so badly with Ichigo.

"I'm Inoue Orihime," Rangiku's mind clicked, Orihime was Ichigo's concubine, "I reside here with Kurosaki-Sama." Rangiku clicked her tongue.

"So, you're the concubine that Rukia's been telling me about." Orihime felt a flash of anger wash over her, but she let it go. "Why were you crying?" Rangiku asked as she felt relief since her son finally went to sleep. Orihime let out a small laugh.

"Oh it wasn't anything!" Orihime tried to play it off and Rangiku put a hand on her hip, while cradling her baby in the other.

"Oh really?" Rangiku arched a brow, "So you're not crying over the fact that Rukia's pregnant and her and Ichigo look happier than ever?" Rangiku bluntly said, Orihime remembered the dreadful moment at dinner and felt the tears springing up again.

"He doesn't even love her anymore, obviously not if he had me become his concubine." Orihime said, Rangiku rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You were never supposed to take her place." Rangiku explained, Orihime shot her a withering glare.

"Obviously if he needed me, then I was supposed to take her place." Rangiku glared right back at her.

"You're a concubine; do I need to spell it out for you?" Rangiku shot back, ruffling a hand through her hair, she straightened her stance, "Rukia's his real wife, and sure, he might've needed you, but don't you understand? You were never supposed to replace her. You can't replace her in his heart. He's loved Rukia; he's loved Rukia ever since they were best friends. They've been through everything together. You honestly thought you could replace her very existence just because he needed you for some kids? Be real with yourself, you're not his second wife, you were the girl he needed so he could try to have children." Orihime grew frustrated with Rangiku's words, and clenched her fists tightly as hot tears ran across her face.

"I wanted to be _her_; I wanted to be his everything. I won't accept anything else." Orihime fought back, Rangiku waved her off.

"Rukia's pregnant now, I bet if he wasn't as generous as he is, then he would've already kicked you out." Rangiku stared at the woman who was obviously tired of being second to Ichigo's heart, and even though Rangiku had once felt the pain Orihime was dealing with, she knew that she had to convince Orihime. "You were nothing but a second option to him. Hell, Rukia might've gotten pregnant sooner if Rukia hadn't been so mad that he ran off to you. Even though they're happy now, they're still trying to fix things. Leave them alone, your presence in the house is stopping them from making a full recovery in their relationship. You're nothing but a bother now to them."

Orihime remained quiet as she looked down at her feet.

"Why be a second option to Ichigo, when you're first priority to Schiffer-san?" Orihime widened her eyes as she looked up at Rangiku. Surely no one could've noticed that Ulquiorra and her had been spending time together.

"I and Schiffer-Sama are not like that." Orihime responded quietly, no one was really supposed to know that Orihime harbored some kind of feelings towards him now. Rangiku scoffed openly.

"You don't think I don't see the way he looks at you? And how he took you away from the dinner last night? Orihime, be with him, he'll make you happy." Rangiku urged, "Rukia and Ichigo are happy now. Just let them be." Orihime glared at her.

"You don't understand! Nobody understands what it's like to be completely in love with a man, but knowing you're just the stupid concubine. I could've taken Rukia's place; I know I could've if I tried harder." Orihime was stubborn, and Rangiku sighed as she shook her head.

"Of all people, I understand you." Rangiku rubbed her temples with one hand. "I was in your position. You think Gin and I just got married like that? He brought me in as his concubine, and even though he told me he loved me, and I wanted to be his only wife, I couldn't. His wife was so kind to me, and as much as I tried to be the only wife he had, his duties lied with his real wife. The woman he married first. It was awful standing there, knowing that he loved me more than her, but both of us couldn't do anything about it." Rangiku admitted, not many knew that Rangiku had once been Gin's concubine before she turned into his wife. Orihime just stared at her with slightly widened eyes.

"When his wife died, it was a loss for both of us. Even though he didn't love her, he cared about her because she was in his heart first, and I lost a companion, the only woman who treated me with kindness while everybody else looked at me in shame because I was the concubine. Before she died, she made me promise her to keep on loving Gin, and to be with him." Rangiku stared at her son and smiled at him. "Then my son was born." Rangiku looked up at Orihime.

"Most concubines know not to interfere with the marriage. You're only there for him to have sex with you, honestly, you weren't chosen to be his next wife or to replace Rukia, and you were there so you could provide the child that Ichigo wanted. Now that Ichigo has Rukia, and they've miraculously fallen in love again and entered a new type of relationship, you're not important anymore. To be honest, you never really were." Orihime wiped away the forming tears.

"I suggest leaving with Ulquiorra, and soon. Goodnight Orihime." Rangiku once again steadied her baby in both arms and walked past Orihime's still form. Orihime turned around to see Rangiku's form walking away from her.

Orihime turned around and saw Ulquiorra leaning on the wall near her.

"I didn't think you'd be awake." Orihime fiddled with her sleeping gown.

"And I didn't think you'd still be upset about Ichigo and Rukia after what we just did." Orihime looked up at him.

"My feelings for you are complicated." Ulquiorra stared at her.

"I don't see what's so complicated about feelings. You care about me or you don't." Orihime turned away from his firm gaze.

"Well I do, but…" Ulquiorra began walking away from her, Orihime just stared at him.

"Where are you going?" Orihime asked and Ulquiorra stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm preparing to go home; it's obvious my attempts to make you forget about Ichigo have been futile. I'm wasting my time on you. Don't come to my door when Ichigo decides to kick you out. I don't care about you anymore." Ulquiorra then continued on with his walk back to his bedroom. Orihime stood at him horrified and felt her legs running towards him.

**Next day: **

Rukia moved to apply a deep red color on her lips. Ichigo had left to go out riding with a few friends. Rukia beckoned one of her maids to come closer to finish pinning up the rest of Rukia's hair. Rukia looked out to her and Ichigo's personal pavilion.

"A clear sky in winter weather? That's rare." Rukia put down the sheet of lip color after she finished. The maid was adjusting all the pins.

"There's going to be a full moon tonight Kurosaki-Sama." The maid informed her, Rukia felt the maid finish putting the last of the pins in her hair. Rukia stood up and looked at the maid.

"Evacuate everybody to their quarters after dinner then, and make sure you remind _everybody_ about the full moon tonight. Come along, I must greet our guests as they finally part from our home." The maid nodded as she trailed behind Rukia. The maids closed the door to Rukia's bedroom and quickly departed to follow Rukia's orders.

Rukia walked to the entrance of the household and greeted all of the families, who were saddling up horses, preparing palanquins, and etc. They were all getting ready to go home.

"Thank you for the lovely Winter festival Kurosaki-san. Congratulations on your pregnancy." Rukia nodded and smiled to all of those who she had to bid goodbye to.

Rukia came up to the small group of wives who were all saying goodbye to each other. They all looked at Rukia as she approached them. All of them gave her wide smiles.

"We're so happy for you! Good luck on the pregnancy, we're going to miss you!" Rangiku said as all of the women crowded together for a hug. Rukia smiled contently.

"Thank you ladies, I'll miss all of you too." They separated and waved goodbye to her as Ichigo and his friends came strolling in on their horses. As Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Renji jumped off of their horses, servants rushed to tend to the tired horses. Ichigo greeted all of the guests who were beginning to leave.

Ichigo saw Rukia and smiled at her as he made his way towards her. Bending down to kiss her, Rukia felt his hand touch her stomach. Once they separated from each other, they gave each other a small smile.

"Welcome home." Rukia greeted as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"I'm glad to be home." Ichigo looked at the large crowd of guests who were all saying goodbye to each other still. "It's a full moon tonight." Rukia smiled at him.

"I'm aware of that. You better tell Kamen to not be so aggressive with me." Rukia teased, Ichigo chuckled as he kissed the top of her head as they watched everybody file out of their house.

"I'll try, but you can't really stop him." Rukia rolled her eyes as Ichigo held onto her hand.

**Later that night: **

Kamen's golden irises traced over Rukia's small, but perfect body. His rough fingers outlined the shape of her body.

"Wake up Queen." He cooed and Rukia turned around instantly to stare at him.

"How are you not tired?" Rukia groaned as she shifted so she faced him.

"I'm always excited to see you my Queen, his Majesty won't let me out often, so I've got to take advantage of every opportunity I get with you." Rukia just rolled her eyes as he gathered her up in his arms.

"Maybe if you weren't such a psychopath, he'd let you out more often." Rukia felt Kamen's fingers dig into her shoulder for her attack on his personality.

"Aww, don't say that, you love me." Rukia fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Did Ichigo tell you?" Kamen looked down at her as he played with her shoulders.

"Tell me what?" Kamen nuzzled his nose into her soft hair, Rukia just swatted him away.

"That I'm pregnant." Kamen stopped playing with Rukia and he turned her so that she would face him.

"So, we're having a kid is what you're saying?" Rukia nodded and Kamen gave her a smirk.

"I knew I would do the job someday." Kamen boasted and Rukia smacked him upside the head.

"Oh shut up, it's all Ichigo, not you." Rukia smiled slightly as Kamen rubbed the sore spot on his head where Rukia had once smacked him. Rukia then felt herself being tackled by Kamen for her previous attack on her. He had slammed his body on top of hers, knowing the weight would make her feel somewhat squished.

"Oh my god, get off." Rukia as she tried to push him off, Kamen just kissed her.

"I don't think so my Queen. You're mine tonight." Kamen smirked as Rukia rolled her eyes once more.

**Next morning: **

Rukia finished putting on her simple yellow kimono with white roses embroidered on it. She heard Ichigo slightly snoring as he wrapped himself in the blankets. Rukia walked out of their bedroom, and a maid quickly followed her.

"Please summon Inoue-san and Schiffer-san to breakfast." The maid bowed as she went to follow Rukia's orders. Rukia moved to the kitchen as she began picking out Ichigo's favorite tea and began to brew it. As Rukia finished, she sat down on the soft red cushion that faced her garden. As she admired the growing flowers in the winter weather, a maid bowed to her. Rukia didn't even face her.

"What is it?" Rukia asked as she looked up to observe the clear skies again. The maid hesitated a moment.

"Kurosaki –Sama," the maid addressed, by the tone of her voice, Rukia knew something was obviously wrong, "Schiffer-Sama's and Inoue-Sama's things have been cleared out. His horses and palanquin are also gone." Rukia turned to face her and stood up.

"Take me to their room." The maid nodded as she got up and began leading her to Ulquiorra's room first.

Rukia told the maid to get Ichigo as Rukia inspected the room. She found the sheets placed nicely, the room was spotless, and everything had been cleared. Rukia lifted up the sheets and found stains on the sheets. Rukia arched a thin brow at the stain, knowing clearly what the stains represented.

'_So, I was right after all about the two.' _

Rukia walked out of Ulquiorra's room and told the maid to clean everything in the room; Ichigo was adjusting his robes as he kissed Rukia on the cheek.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked as Rukia began walking towards Orihime's room.

"The maid just informed me that Ulquiorra and Orihime and their belongings are gone." Rukia and Ichigo reached Orihime's room. Rukia opened the shoji doors and saw the bed was nice and clean, and the room was bare. On top of the bed was a scroll. Rukia walked inside as Ichigo waited outside. Bending down, Rukia picked up the scroll and straightened herself up.

Rukia walked out and closed the shoji doors before moving to open the scroll. Ichigo positioned himself behind Rukia and read over her shoulder as the scroll was unfolded.

'_Dear Kurosaki-Sama and Kurosaki-san:_

_I was so happy to become Kurosaki-Sama's concubine, but I left with Schiffer-san because he offers me a better life than I could ever enjoy at the Kurosaki household. I love Schiffer-san, and he loves me too. _

_Kurosaki-san, I am jealous of you in every way. You were the only thing stopping me from becoming head wife, which was what I wanted. But I realized I could never replace you, or replace the love that Kurosaki-Sama has for you. I've come to terms that I was only just a concubine for Kurosaki-sama, and that he is rightfully yours. I apologize for my actions that I did out of jealousy and love I felt for Kurosaki-Sama. I hope you can forgive me. If my brother is still alive, please tell him I am sorry._

_I must go now, Schiffer-san has promised to marry me, and I will become his wife. I will get what I always wanted out of Kurosaki-Sama, but I no longer feel love for Kurosaki-Sama. _

_Best of luck to you and Kurosaki-Sama on your upcoming child._

_I am sorry, and I have moved on. _

_Sincerely, _

_Inoue Orihime.' _

Ichigo scratched his orange locks as him and Rukia finished reading the note. Rukia closed the scroll and sighed.

"It's over." Rukia whispered and Ichigo wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry she caused you that much grief because of me." Rukia put her arms on his and leaned back into his chest.

"At least she's marrying Ulquiorra now." Ichigo and Rukia kissed and Rukia smiled as they separated. "Come now, we should probably have breakfast."

Ichigo and Rukia heard Ichigo's stomach growl and they shared a laugh as they kissed again.

"Yes, we should my lovely wife." Rukia just laughed as she crumpled up the scroll in her hand as they walked off to have breakfast together.

Things seemed at peace again in the Kurosaki household.

**Author's note: Wasn't expecting that were you?! This is the last official chapter of this story! Thank you so much for sticking by me, reading, and reviewing this story! I appreciate it all of it. I will be writing an epilogue soon! (: **

**Remember to leave your last comments on this story! **

**With much love, **

**xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx**


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